Overnight stocks closed slightly higher Friday but the US Indices still posted their worst weekly loss for the year as investors fret about the continuing slowdown in China.
The Dow Index finished the session up 34 points at 13080 but has declined a total of 1.15 percent while the S&P Index closed up 4.3 points at 1397 but erased 0.50 percent for the week.
The US Commerce Department released numbers showing that new home sales fell by 1.6 percent for the second consecutive month in February helping push the euro up to its highest level in three weeks in Friday trading. The EURUSD traded up from overnight lows of 1.3190 to as high as 1.3295.
Gold rallied the most in four weeks on speculation that the continuing weakness of the USD will spurn investors to buy the commodity as an alternative investment. Spot Gold traded up from overnight lows of 1642 to as high as 1666.
Crude oil rallied on Friday on news that on news that Iranian oil exports have had a heavy drop this month as tightening Western sanctions have caused some buyers to stop or scale back purchases. WTI Crude (see above chart) traded up from lows of 105.17 to as high as 108.2
The Volatility Index which is widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market has closed below 15.
INDICES
Last Traded
SPI 200 future 4273
S&P500 Index 1397
Dow Jones 13080
FTSE 100 Index 5854
COMMODITIES
Last Traded
Gold 1663
Oil (Nymex) 106.87
CURRENCIES
Last Traded
AUDUSD 1.0463
EURUSD 1.3272
GBPUSD 1.5880
USDJPY 82.40
Source
Bloomberg, Dow Jones News
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