Bourse

Home page

Bourse

US market indices fluctuate

25 September 2008 09:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Vugar Mustafayev - APA-Economics. The Dow and S&P declined for the third consecutive day. However, the Nasdaq held on to slender gains on hopes that technology spending would increase once a version of the bailout plan becomes law.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged Joint Economic Committee of Congress to pass the bailout, saying delay would keep lenders from extending credit to households and businesses.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 29.00 points, or 0.27%, at 10,825.17.
Standard & Poorâ€™s 500 Index was down 2.35 points, or 0.2%, at 1,185.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 2.35 points, or 0.11%, at 2,155.68.
About 1.08 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange - well below last yearâ€™s estimated daily average of roughly 1.90 billion.
About 1.81 billion shares were traded on the Nasdaq, also below last yearâ€™s daily average of 2.17 billion.
Crude oil prices have dipped after the US government reported a sharp drop in consumption.
New Yorkâ€™s main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, fell 88 cents a barrel to close at $US105.73.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed 0.63% lower at 1,101.60 points, falling for the third consecutive session. Mining and energy shares were among the biggest losers.
In Frankfurt, the DAX index ended at 6052.87 points, down 15.66 or 0.26%. In Paris, the CAC-40 index closed at 4114.54 points, down 25.28 or 0.61%.
The Swiss market index closed at 6780.34 points, down 25.19 or 0.37%.
In Britain, the FTSE 100 closed down 40.6 points, or 0.8% at 5,095.6, after losing 1.9% on Tuesday. Trading was thin. The index is down 21% this year to date.
Euro zone government debt rose as weakening business morale in Germany, France and Italy offered more evidence that the region is sinking into recession and could lead the European Central Bank to cut interest rates in the future.
The Tokyo Stock Exchangeâ€™s benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 24.44 points to end at 12,115.03.