US stocks close mixed as oil falls, dollar firms (AFP)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 43.97 points (0.38 percent) to grapple at 11,659.90, while the tech-rich Nasdaq composite fell 1.15 points (0.05 percent) to 2,452.52.
The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 5.27 points (0.41 percent) to finish at 1,298.20.
"Geopolitical concerns and the realization that global slowdown concerns are backward the fall through in goods are acting as an offset of sorts that is restraining buying interest at this juncture," aforesaid Patrick O'Hare, analyst at Briefing.com.
The place of traffic endured a volatile session after opening higher on news that coarse prices were falling farther in imitation of OPEC lowered its forecast for oil demand growth, citing a weakening global economy.
"The softening economic situation has led to a further slowdown in oil demand growth," the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said Friday.
The New York crude oil futures get shed 1.24 dollars to close at 113.77 dollars a barrel. It has lost nearly 23 percent of its value since hitting 147.27 dollars on July 11.
The dollar, meanwhile, surged higher against the euro and other major currencies in the wake of the European Union report Thursday that the 15-nation eurozone economy had shrunk 0.2 percent in the second quarter.
On Friday Hong Kong announced its economy had contracted in the maintainer quarter, two days after Japan said that its economy, the largest in Asia, also had shrunk in the identical period.
"Falling commodity prices and a stronger dollar desire supported the market, but the mood upon a summer Friday is cautious," uttered Al Goldman, analyst at Wachovia Securities.
A pair of US industrial production indicators Friday raised hopes that the troubled sector was beginning to show signs of recovery.
Although US industrial output rose solely 0.2 percent in July, cooling from a 0.4 percent pace in June, the data beat analyst expectations of flat growth.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's monthly Empire State survey of manufacturers in New York state lay the foundation of output increased 2.8 points in August following a 4.9-point decline in July. Analysts had forecast a drop of 2.8 points.
"The recent turnaround in manufacturing is pleasant recent accounts," Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors said.
"As in opposition to the markets, equity investors who are actually looking into the future should be buoyed through this report. And with oil continuing to collapse, the stars are starting to align at least because of next year."
But a consumer confidence survey by the University of Michigan disappointed at 61.7 points, slightly below market expectations of 62.0 points.
Among public funds in focus, prison reinsurers Ambac and MBIA soared after positive comments by ratings supervision Standard & Poor's. Ambac shot up 24.56 percent to 5.68 dollars and MBIA gained 8.72 percent at 11.22.
Volatile trading left financials mixed: Lehman Brothers lost 0.19 percent at 16.17, while Washington Mutual gained 4.36 percent at 4.55 and Citigroup rose 2.60 percent to 18.55.
Wachovia fell 1.52 percent to 15.57 in the pattern of the Securities and Exchange Commission related the bank had agree in a preliminary deal to buy back up to nine billion dollars in tainted auction sale rate securities.
Oil majors took a stroke from falling harsh prices. ExxonMobil slipped 0.49 percent to 77.07, Chevron dropped 1.94 percent to 84.25 and ConocoPhillips malignant 2.15 percent to 77.66.
Bond prices rose as the yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond savage to 3.852 percent from 3.892 percent Thursday, while that on the 30-year bond dropped to 4.473 percent from 4.519 percent.
Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Original text: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080815/bs_afp/stocksusclose
