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US sharemarkets posted small losses on the last day of the trading week, with a late rally recovering some early morning losses generated by yet another oil price record.
At the close of trading on Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average was slightly down, losing 5.86 points, or 0.05 percent, to close at 12,986.80, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 made a slight gain, adding 1.78 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 1,425.35.
The technology-based Nasdaq composite lost 24.88 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 2,528.85.
After rising for the week, US shares took a hit on Friday morning as US light crude oil surged US$2.17 in New York to hit an all-time electronic trading high of US127.82 per barrel, before settling back to a new closing record of US$126.29 per barrel.
Other economic news to impact negatively on the morning was the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for May, which dropped to 59.5 from 62.6 in April, well below the 62 level that was forecast. Also, the United Nations issued a warning, saying that the world economy could experience a severe downturn due to the US housing and financial market bust. The UN forecast economic growth of just 1.8 percent this year.
Market breadth was mixed. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers and winners were narrowly mixed on volume of 950 million shares, while on the Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers three to two as 1.71 billion shares changed hands.
(c) NewsRoom 2008
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