A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – Wall Street ended lower in a feeble end to another week of strong gains after concerns about the timing of future US interest rate rises offset gains in materials and energy stocks.
The S&P utility sector led declines, down 2.73 per cent. The materials index was the biggest winner and was up for the third straight day with a 1.35 per cent rise.
In a break from a trend seen for much of this year, energy shares clung to gains even after a rally in crude oil prices faded, with ConocoPhillips up 3.21 per cent.
The Commerce Department said gross domestic product expanded at a one per cent annual rate in the fourth quarter, an upward revision from its previous estimate of 0.7 per cent growth. The data exacerbated concerns that the US Federal Reserve could raise rates sooner rather than later. The economy grew at a rate of 2.0 per cent in the third quarter.
Following a steep selloff in January and a partial recovery in the past two weeks, the S&P 500 is just above its 50-day moving average for a second session, which some traders believe is a sign of improving sentiment.
But investors, shell-shocked by months of volatility, remained cautious, with decade-low oil prices, rate hikes and a potential slowdown in China’s economy still on their minds.
In other US data, consumer spending rose strongly in January, while underlying inflation picked up by the most in four years.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.34 per cent to end at 16,639.97 points.
The S&P 500 lost 0.19 per cent to finish at 1,948.05 after spending much of the day in positive territory.
The Nasdaq Composite added 0.18 per cent to 4,590.47.
For the week, the Dow gained 1.5 per cent, the S&P rose 1.6 per cent and the Nasdaq added 1.9 per cent. The S&P 500 is now down about 5 per cent for 2016.
LONDON – British shares rallied and posted a second week of gains in a row, boosted by a rally in publisher Pearson and London Stock Exchange Group, though Royal Bank of Scotland reported its eighth full-year loss in a row.
RBS shares plunged 7.1 per cent and were set for their biggest daily loss since June 2012.
The state-backed bank reported a full-year loss of STG1.97 billion ($A3.80 billion), weighed down by further restructuring and litigation costs.
“Despite better progress on capital, RBS has reported a disappointing set of numbers with both revenue and costs light due to weak investment bank performance,” analysts at Jefferies said in a note.
It has not turned a profit since its 2008 government bailout during the financial crisis, and its update contrasted with Lloyds, which surprised investors with a dividend in the previous session.
“Overall RBS’ results are in stark contrast to yesterday’s figures from Lloyds, and demonstrate just how much daylight has opened up between the banks since the financial crisis,” Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said in a note.
“RBS is heading in the same direction as Lloyds and will probably get there, but it’s going to be a long haul.”
RBS’s woes did not offset broader gains on the FTSE 100 index, which rose 1.4 per cent to close at 6,096.01 points, posting its second weekly gain in a row.
Despite a 10 per cent rally since mid-February, the index remains down 2.3 per cent this year.
HONG KONG – Asian shares made guarded gains as a gathering of world finance leaders provided a welter of reassuring comments, but little in the way of actual policy stimulus.
Setting the tone for the Shanghai meeting of the Group of 20, China’s central bank chief, Zhou Xiaochuan, said Beijing still had the room and tools to support the world’s second largest economy.
Yet, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was quick to declare that the scope for monetary and fiscal policy was exhausted globally and called for more structural reform.
The reaction in share markets was cautious. Shanghai stocks added 0.5 per cent, but the bounce looked unconvincing against Thursday’s six per cent slump.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.8 per cent, while South Korea rose 0.2 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei gained one per cent but could not quite sustain a two-week top.
WELLINGTON – The S&P/NZX 50 fell 0.3 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 6,224.980.
