A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – US stocks have finished mostly higher as investors digested tame US inflation data and a weak market debut of social games giant Zynga.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2.42 points (0.02 per cent) to close at 11,866.39 on Friday.
The broader S&P 500 climbed 3.91 points (0.32 per cent) to 1219.66, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 14.32 points (0.56 per cent) to 2555.33.
The main indexes had opened slightly higher amid bullish sentiment that Congress would pass a budget measure to avert a government shutdown and consumer price data showed inflation remained subdued, Charles Schwab analysts said.
But momentum faded in afternoon trading “as the European markets lost ground in late-day action to finish lower, despite no new flare-ups in eurozone debt crisis news and as Italy’s parliament passed the nation’s recently proposed austerity measures,” they said in a research note.
The major equity indexes were “caught in choppy trade” as they entered the final hour of the session, Briefing.com analysts said.
The much buzzed-about initial public offering of Facebook gamemaker Zynga on the Nasdaq proved disappointing.
Offering 100 million shares – one-seventh of the company’s total – at $US10 a pop, the maker of Facebook games FarmVille, Mafia Wars and Words With Friends was valued at a whopping $7 billion.
The bond market rallied. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.85 per cent from 1.91 per cent late Thursday, while the 30-year bond yield dropped to 2.86 per cent from 2.93 per cent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
LONDON – European stocks closed lower in subdued trade on Friday, under pressure from gloomy forecasts for the French economy while the euro was firmer as trade quietened before the long Christmas break.
Dealers said a warning from the French statistics institute that the country was likely to be in recession through to the first quarter of 2012 dampened sentiment even if it was not unexpected.
They said investors were nervous, too, about a possible eurozone ratings downgrade, with both Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s having warned the bloc is being looked at closely after a disappointing EU summit last week.
In Italy, Prime Minister Mario Monti managed to get his package of tough austerity measures through parliament via a vote of confidence, aiming to speed up implementation.
A warning by International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde that the eurozone debt crisis put the world at risk of a Great Depression attracted much attention but added little new for investors to trade on.
In London, the FTSE-100 index of top companies closed down 0.25 per cent at 5387.34 points. In Paris, the CAC-40 dropped 0.88 per cent to 2972.30 points and in Frankfurt the DAX 30 lost 0.50 per cent to 5701.78 points.
Milan finished down 0.38 per cent and Madrid fell 0.57 per cent.
HONG KONG – Asian markets were higher on Friday.
Tokyo gained 0.29 per cent, or 24.35 points, to end at 8401.72 and Sydney was 0.47 per cent, or 19.3 points, higher at 4159.3, while Seoul jumped 1.15 per cent, or 20.85 points, to 1839.96.
Hong Kong rose by 1.43 per cent, or 258.55 points, to 18,285.39 and Shanghai jumped by 2.01 per cent, or 43.94 points, to 2224.84.
WELLINGTON – New Zealand shares fell after Nuplex Industries said it wouldn’t meet earnings guidance, stoking fars more companies will suffer as Europe’s debts help slow global growth.
The NZX 50 Index fell 17.84, or 0.5 per cent, to 3245.34. Within the index, 32 stocks fell, 11 gained and eight were unchanged. Turnover was a lower-than-average $77 million.
