Wall Street Ends At Week Lowest

US stocks somehow managed to cover up the early losses but still close up at the week lowest on Friday, while European equities witnessed the first weekly drop since April over unrest in Iraq and Ukraine.

The value of the dollar went down to a quarter percent against a bunch of major currencies for a second week of losses.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged up 3.74 points, or 0.2%, to close at 1,960.96. The most widely used benchmark for stock funds lost 1.91 points for the week, a loss of 0.1%.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 5.71 points, less than 0.1%, to close at 16,851.84, while the Nasdaq composite rose 18.88 points, or 0.43%, to 4,397.93.

“Prices have finally achieved a certain valuation level that has become increasingly uncomfortable for market participants in the absence of further decisive evidence that the economy is on the right track,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.

Europe’s main stock indicator, the FTSEurofirst300 settled at 1,371.28, flat on the day, but down 1.7 percent for its first weekly loss in 10 weeks.

Gold went to score weekly high fourth time in a row and achieve a gain of USD 1,316 an ounce, as geopolitical disruption in Iraq and Ukraine gave a boost to the precious metal’s appeal making the soft US data enfeeble the dollar.

Brent crude, the standard for global prices, rose 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $113.30 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange. Prices slipped 1.3% this week. The price rose as the fear of fears that an insurgency in northern Iraq would spread to the south and disrupt the nation’s oil production continued to haunt. However the war hasn’t reached the southern part of the country.

“We had a lull in activity (in Iraq) this week,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy-advisory firm Ritterbusch & Associates. “As a result, we’ve seen a little evaporation of the fear premium.”

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Richard Carlisle

Richard is a product of the 90s and a serious fan of the Star Wars series. He graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology; therefore, he has a great understanding of the relationship between physical activity and mental health. Although he has a full- time job in a clinic, he enjoys covering news related to health and the United States.