FKLI Related News
NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced on Friday but failed to make up for what turned out to be the worst week for markets since June, as investors turned their attention from the presidential election to the coming negotiations over the "fiscal cliff."
The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 4.07 points, or 0.03 percent, to 12,815.39 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 2.34 points, or 0.17 percent, to 1,379.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 9.29 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 2,904.87. For the week, the Dow fell 2.1 percent and the Nasdaq lost 2.6 percent.
Tech stocks managed solid gains in Friday's session. An S&P information technology sector index rose 0.6 percent. Shares of Apple Inc rebounded from their slide into bear market territory earlier this week with a 1.7 percent gain on Friday to close at $547.06. But the stock of J.C. Penney slid 4.8 percent to $20.64 and ranked as the S&P 500's biggest decliner after the retailer reported a sharper-than-expected decline in quarterly sales at stores open at least a year. Shares of Walt Disney Co fell 6 percent to $47.06. The company said coming results will be under pressure due to declining home video sales and rising costs.
The market's early gains on Friday came after stronger-than-expected figures on U.S. consumer sentiment. But investors' enthusiasm cooled after hearing from the House speaker and the president about the fiscal cliff. Boehner, a Republican, reiterated his opposition to any tax hikes on the wealthy late this morning. Obama responded in the early afternoon by saying there was no way around tax increases, but that he would remain open to any new ideas that congressional leaders might have.
The fiscal cliff is a combination of government spending cuts and tax increases set to go into effect early next year unless Congress acts to change the law before then. It could take an estimated $600 billion out of the U.S. economy and push it into recession. Investors are reacting to the prospect of higher tax rates by selling both losing and winning stocks for the year to decrease the tax impact from their positions.
The euro zone is not inspiring confidence, either. Greece's finance minister said his country was running out of cash, growth in Germany is expected to weaken in the next two quarters, and France's central bank said the country's economy would slip into recession as 2012 ends. Germany and France are the the euro zone's two largest economies, and Greece has been scraping by, thanks to a 130-billion-euro bailout.
Asian shares were capped on Monday as investor sentiment was weighed down by concerns over U.S. fiscal woes as well as Greece's bailout, despite improving economic data from the world's two largest economies, the United States and China. Gasoline futures in New York surged on Friday as supplies remained tight after Hurricane Sandy, and oil and commodities such as cocoa and sugar also rose as U.S. consumer sentiment hit a five-year high in spite of the nation's economic woes. Crude oil futures advanced on Friday, boosted by a rise in U.S. consumer sentiment to a five-year high and upbeat readings on the Chinese economy, while gasoline futures surged even more on speculation over delivery problems and tight supplies in storm-hit New York Harbor.
Analysts say trading will likely be cautious given the shorter week as Malaysian markets will be closed Tuesday and Thursday for public holidays. The KLCI ended Friday flat at 1641.08.
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