Friday, March 4, 2011

Wall Street ends the week flat as oil prices weigh

Wall Street erased most of its weekly gains as fears of more geopolitical turmoil and higher oil prices threaten to stifle rallies in coming weeks.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 88.32 points, or 0.72 percent, at 12,169.88. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 9.82 points, or 0.74 percent, at 1,321.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 14.07 points, or 0.50 percent, at 2,784.67.

European shares fell to end their second straight week in the red after US jobs data failed to meet the market hype and fighting in Libya pushed oil prices higher.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares ended down 0.6 percent at 1,148.53 points to close the week down 1 percent. The index had traded up as high as 1,163.47 points earlier in the session.

Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei average climbed for a second session buoyed by Wall Street's gains on expectations for a big rise in US payrolls and a weaker yen, but players said trade is set to stay choppy near-term on worries over oil.

The benchmark Nikkei ended the day up 1 percent or 107.64 points at 10,693.66. The broader Topix gained 0.7 percent to 955.59. Its immediate support looms around the index's 25-day moving average of 10,597.90.