Sunday, March 8, 2009
Most U.S. shares rose on Friday as rising oil prices encouraged the energy sector, which overshadowed a liquidation of securities in technology.
The market spent most of the session low, but financial shares recovered after the Wall Street Journal newspaper reported that Lloyds Banking Group and the British Government agreed to a scheme of protection against losses on toxic assets.
During the session, the Dow Jones and S & P set new minimum of 12 years, but erased its losses late in the session after the newspaper report on Lloyds.
The report on Lloyds' is positive news that the minor things are being cleaned. I think it is temporary, but the news is these that help the market, "said Giri Cherukuri, head trader for Oakbrook Investments LLC.
Cherukuri said that the report set off a bidding game.
JP Morgan lowered its target price for the shares of Apple Inc and its earnings forecasts, leading to a low of 4 percent in their roles and the Nasdaq sank to an intraday minimum of six years.
Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron underpinned the Dow Jones after the oil price rose 4.38 percent, to close at about $ 45 a barrel amid expectations that OPEC could cut production again .
The roles of Chevron climbed 3.2 percent to $ 58.27 and Exxon added 2.9 percent to 64.03
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 32.50 points, or 0.49 percent to close unofficially at 6626.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 advanced 0.83 points, or 0.12 percent, to 683.38. But the Nasdaq composite index gave 5.74 points, or 0.44 percent, to 1293.85.
It was the fourth week to the bottom of all the indices, while the S & P 500 had its worst week since November.
During the week, the Dow Jones lost 6.2 percent, the S & P 500 yielded a 7 percent and the Nasdaq 6.1 percent a restaurant.
Weak economic news added to the negative tone of the market. The U.S. government reported that unemployment last month rose to 8.1 percent, its highest level since December 1983 due to 651,000 lost jobs.
