Wall Street mixed in rudderless trade

Published: 2009/06/13

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks closed mixed Friday in rudderless trade as a decline in oil prices weighed on heavyweight oil majors and investors shrugged off disappointing consumer sentiment data. After zigzagging into and out of positive territory, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 28.34 points (0.32 per cent) to end at 8,799.41.

The blue chip Dow has now joined the other major indices in wiping out losses since the start of the year. The tech-studded Nasdaq fell 3.57 points (0.19 per cent) to 1,858.80, while the broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged up 1.32 points (0.14 per cent) to close at 946.19. “We are witnessing the epitome of a range-bound market,” said Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.

Trading volume and news flow were sparse ahead of the weekend. Investors shrugged off the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index showing a gain in June for the fourth month running that was slightly below market expectations.

“The report suggests that the recent improvements in economic data are helping sentiment but some concerns about inflation and the impact of higher interest rates on the recovery in the economy may be beginning to creep into the equation,” Charles Schwab & Co analysts said in a client note. -- AFP