A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – It took a while, but the Dow Jones industrial average finally regained all its losses for the month.
On a day of conflicting signals, as investors weighed disappointing economic news against reports of higher profits at big companies, stocks inched higher. All three major indexes were up on Friday, though barely.
The Dow climbed 24.69 points to 13,228.31, a tiny 0.2 per cent gain. That was enough to push the index into the black for April. It’s now 16 points higher than where it began the month.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 edged up 3.38 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 1,403.36. The Nasdaq composite rose 18.59 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 3,069.20.
LONDON – European stock markets closed higher as investors found positives in weaker-than-expected US headline growth data, offsetting record Spanish jobless figures that stoked concerns on the eurozone.
US growth slowed sharply to 2.2 per cent in the first quarter from 3.0 per cent in the last three months of 2011 but consumer demand held up strongly, suggesting there was some underlying strength, dealers said.
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies closed up 0.49 per cent to 5,777.11 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 gained 0.91 per cent to 6,801.32 points and in Paris the CAC 40 advanced 1.14 per cent to 3,226.27 points.
Madrid, down sharply by 2.65 per cent at the open following the S&P downgrade, confounded the gloomy jobless news to show a gain of 1.69 per cent.
Milan too posted strong gains, up 1.85 per cent, despite the problems in Spain which are often lumped together with Italy’s.
In foreign exchange deals, the euro picked up to $1.3252 from $1.3240 in New York late on Thursday.
HONG KONG – Asian markets were mixed after an uneven set of data from the United States, while sentiment was weighed by news that Spain’s credit rating had been slashed.
The yen strengthened despite the Bank of Japan announcing another round of monetary easing as it tries to kickstart the torpid economy.
Tokyo closed 0.43 per cent, or 40.94 points, lower at 9,520.89 as a huge spike in the wake of the BoJ announcement was reversed.
Seoul added 0.58 per cent, or 11.30 points, to close at 1,975.34.
Hong Kong shed 0.33 per cent, or 68.26 points, to 20,741.45 and Shanghai was 0.35 per cent lower, slipping 8.38 points to 2,396.32.
In Tokyo the central bank said it would increase its asset purchase program by Y5 trillion ($A60 billion) to Y70 trillion, its latest move to breathe life into the world’s third-largest economy.
WELLINGTON – The NZX 50 Index rose 10.83 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 3,531.65.
