A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – US stocks have closed little-changed but the S&P 500 picked up enough for a new record as a possible Halliburton-Baker Hughes merger sparked buying in the oil services sector.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 18.05 points (0.10 per cent) at 17,634.74 on Friday.
The broad-market S&P 500 added 0.49 points (0.02 per cent) at 2,039.82, slipping past the previous record by 0.14 point.
Meanwhile the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite gained 8.40 (0.18 per cent) at 4,688.54.
Confirmation that Halliburton is in negotiations to buy rival Baker Hughes lit up oil service sector shares.
LONDON – Sluggish economic growth in eurozone heavyweights Germany and France has weighed on the European single currency and the region’s stock markets.
Nevertheless equities ended in positive territory on Friday, with London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index rising 0.29 per cent to end the day at 6,654.37 points.
The Paris CAC 40 climbed 0.35 per cent to 4,202.46 points, while in Frankfurt the DAX 30 added 0.05 per cent to 9,252.94.
Milan jumped 0.97 per cent and Madrid edged up 0.07 per cent.
France and Germany narrowly avoided a new recession in the third quarter, while the broader 18-nation eurozone also faces anaemic growth with just a 0.2 per cent expansion.
Eurozone inflation came in at a low 0.4 per cent as expected.
Germany grew by a slender 0.1 per cent in the period from July to September while the French economy grew 0.3 per cent.
The euro was at $US1.2483 from $US1.2476 late in New York on Thursday.
HONG KONG – Asian markets were mixed as profit-taking offset another record close for the Dow on Wall Street, while Tokyo reversed morning losses to end on a high as the US dollar broke the 116 yen barrier.
Tokyo added 0.56 per cent, or 98.04 points, to 17,490.83 – its highest since July 2007 – and Sydney rose 0.21 per cent, or 11.60 points, to 5,454.3, while Seoul fell 0.78 per cent, or 15.37 points, to close at 1,945.14.
In the final trading session before the launch of a cross-exchange connection, Shanghai ended 0.27 per cent, or 6.78 points, lower at 2,478.82 while in the late afternoon Hong Kong gained 0.28 per cent, or 67.44 points, to 24,087.38.
WELLINGTON – The NZX 50 Index rose 21.254 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 5483.997.
