While you were sleeping: Dow, S&P 500 fall, consumer confidence slips

Monday 31st August 2009

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell on Friday after a survey showed consumer confidence dropped to a four-month low in August.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said on Friday its final index of confidence fell to 65.7 this month, the lowest since April, from 66.0 in July. Commerce Department figures showed consumer spending rose 0.2% in July, helped by the government's auto trade-in ‘cash-for-clunkers’ program. Personal incomes were little changed after sinking 1.1% in June.

The Dow fell 0.4% to 9544.20 and the S&P 500 declined 0.2% to 1028.93.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% to 2028.77 after Intel Inc. said stronger-than-expected demand for computer chips had lifted its prospects for the third quarter. Its stock rose 4% to US$20.25. Dell Inc. rose 1.8% to US$15.93 after posting second quarter earnings that beat estimates.

Shares ended higher in Europe on Friday after an index of executive and consumer confidence rose more than expected this month, stoking optimism the region will climb out of recession. The European Commission index rose to 80.6, the highest since October, from 76 in July.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 climbed about 1% to 237.51, the highest since October last year.

Nokia gained 3.1% after announcing its first Linux phone, which will take on Apple’s iPhone. L'Oreal, the French beauty products company, jumped 7.4% after reporting first-half earnings that beat estimates.

Among regional benchmarks, the UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.8% to 4908.90 after the Office for National Statistics reported that gross domestic product shrank 0.7% in the second quarter, less than an earlier estimate.

Lloyds Banking Group rose 6.3%, leading the FTSE 100 higher. Xstrata gained 4.4%.

The US dollar rose against the euro and the yen on Friday after US consumer data weighed on stocks.

The dollar gained 0.3 percent to $1.4301 per euro from $1.4341. The greenback advanced 0.2% to 93.64 yen from 93.52. The euro slipped 0.2% to 133.85 yen.

Crude oil for October delivery rose 25 cents to US$72.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold futures for December delivery rose 1.2% to US$958.80 an ounce in New York on Friday.

Copper rose to an 11-month high on optimism reviving economic growth worldwide will stoke demand for the metal.

Copper futures for December delivery rose 2.7% to US$2.9505 a pound on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Businesswire.co.nz

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