A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – US stocks have risen sharply, ending a two-day slide with a rally led by Apple and other tech stocks and extending to most industrial sectors.
The tech-rich Nasdaq posted the biggest gain on Friday, rising 63.97 points (1.29 per cent) to 5,005.39.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 183.54 (1.03 per cent) to 18,024.06, while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 22.78 (1.09 per cent) to 2,108.29. All but four companies in the 30-stock Dow finished higher.
“We got a little bit oversold yesterday,” said Mace Blicksilver, director of Marblehead Asset Management.
Apple, which had lost 5.7 per cent in the prior three sessions, shot up 3.0 per cent.
Biotech stocks, another underperformer this week, surged after Gilead Sciences (+4.5 per cent) reported that first-quarter net income nearly doubled to $US4.3 billion ($A5.44 billion).
Amgen advanced 1.6 per cent, Biogen rose 3.3 per cent and Celgene added 2.3 per cent.
General Motors added 1.0 per cent after reporting that April US auto sales rose 5.9 per cent from a year ago to 269,056 vehicles. Ford Motor inched up 0.1 per cent sales as April sales increased 5.4 per cent to 222,498 vehicles.
LONDON – Britain’s stock market edged up Friday in subdued deals ahead of a general election next week, with the majority of Europe shut for the May Day holiday long weekend.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 was up 0.36 per cent at 6,985.95 points at the close.
“With Europe mostly out of action for May Day, it was a quiet day in London, but at least the traditionally weak period for equities has started off on the right foot,” said analyst Chris Beauchamp at trading firm IG.
“Miners continue to dominate the top end of the FTSE 100 on revived hopes that the Chinese government will be hustled into fresh stimulus measures by the general lack of strength in economic data,” he said.
The mining companies showing the biggest gains were Anglo American, which was up 5.43 per cent at 1,165 pence, Rio Tinto (+3.88 per cent at 2,997 pence) and BHP Billiton (+2.98 per cent at 1,607.5 pence).
HONG KONG – Tokyo stocks have reversed early losses to end slightly higher thanks to a weaker yen while the euro pushes on following an upbeat eurozone inflation reading.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange edged up 11.62 per cent to 1,9531.63.
All other major Asian markets were closed for public holidays.
New York’s three main indexes provided a weak lead, falling sharply on Thursday as a dive in unemployment claims was overshadowed by a weak round of earnings reports and data showing only slim growth in consumer spending.
WELLINGTON – The New Zealand sharemarket has ended the week on a mixed note.
The benchmark NZX 50 Index nudged up 6.064 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 5797.4 on Friday.