Wall Street falls in late sell-off, volume light
US stocks fell late as a spike in oil prices revived worries that inflation would derail the recovery, jolting a market that had been treading water ahead of corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 29.59 points, or 0.24 percent, at 12,379.90. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 5.36 points, or 0.40 percent, at 1,328.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 15.73 points, or 0.56 percent, at 2,780.41.
European shares set a five-week closing high, led by miners tracking stronger metal prices and investors positioning themselves for an expected positive start to the US corporate results season next week.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed up 0.4 percent at 1,148.45 points, above its 50-day moving average, after ending below it on Thursday when investors took profits on concerns about an aftershock in northeastern Japan.
Japan's Nikkei stock average jumped 1.9 percent to close at its highest since the March 11 earthquake, with short-covering encouraged by an "outperform" rating for beleaguered Tokyo Electric Power (9501.T) and a government plan to avoid rolling power blackouts.
A jump in popular stock Fast Retailing (9983.T), which operates the Uniqlo discount clothing chain, after it lifted its annual earnings outlook and a better-than-expected settlement for April options prices also bolstered sentiment.
The benchmark Nikkei .N225 closed up 1.9 percent or 177.15 points at 9,768.08, its highest close since March 11 and the biggest percentage gain for a single day since March 30.
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