Major European and US ended the week little changed on Friday after China’s central bank raised bank reserve requirements for the second time in two weeks.
The Dow Jones added 22.32 points, or 0.20% to 11,203.55 by the close, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closed 3.04 points, or 0.25% higher, at 1,199.73.
The Nasdaq Composite Index added 3.72 points, or 0.15%, to 2,518.12.
For the week, the US indexes were flat with the S&P inching up 0.04%, the Dow adding 0.1%, and the Nasdaq off 0.004%.
That followed the big fall on Tuesday and the relief bounce on Thursday which wasn’t followed up Friday because of the Chinese move (See separate story).
After rising nearly 13% from September, the index has lost around 2.1% in the past two weeks on concerns of tightening in China and debt woes in Ireland.
A financial aid plan to help Ireland cope with its battered banks will be unveiled this week.
Some estimates have put the size of the package at $US90 billion, but it will not be all given at once. Much of it will be a back up package to convince markets that Ireland will always be funded.
In Europe, shares were easier on Friday and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.6% on the day to take the week’s loss to 0.3%.
Markets well in 12 of the 18 western European economies.
London’s FTSE 100 lost 0.6% and France’s CAC 40 0.2%, but Germany’s DAX advanced 0.2 percent.
In Dublin the pressure on the country’s banks was again confirmed with the news that struggling Allied Irish Banks (AIB) disclosed that customer account deposits had plunged 13 billion euros ($A17.94 billion) since January.
That took the total amount of deposits lost by the banks in the period to October to more than 23 billion euros, so far.
In Asia, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index was off 0.3% last week, improving from the 2% fall the week before.
Australia’s ASX 200 Index fell 1.4%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index sank 2.6% and the Shanghai market was off 3.2% for the week.
That left the loss for the two weeks in China at well over 8%.
But Japan’s Nikkei had a better week, ending 3.1% higher as the yen fell against the stronger US dollar.
In Sydney, the ASX200 index was off 11 points, or 0.2% on Friday at 4629.2, The All Ordinaries index fell 5.1 points, or 0.1%, at 4717.7.
Major commodities were also hesitant on Friday after China’s latest tightening measure.
Gold, oil and copper all eased or had a small gain as investors pondered whether China would follow up the lifting of the Reserve Asset Ratio with another rate rise, as had been speculated in Asia earlier in the day.
So Comex December gold eased 70 cents, less than 0.1%, to $US1,352.30 an ounce in New York.
That left the metal down 1% for the week.
December silver meanwhile, rose 4.8% at $27.179 an ounce and was up 1.3% on Friday though.
Sugar, cotton and wheat all slumped sharply on Friday to lead the retreat in commodities.
Sugar lost 7% (The previous Friday it lost 12%).
Oil lost 0.4% to $US81.51 a barrel in New York and was down 4% since the previous Friday.
That was the biggest monthly fall for three months.
Cotton futures tumbled the exchange limit 6 cents to $US1.2315 a pound in New York, extending the biggest weekly loss in 16 months.
December copper added less than a cent to end at $US3.83 a pound.
Copper lost 1.5% on the week.
Platinum rose on the day in New York, but fell on the week.
In London LME three month copper eased 0.2% to $8,404 a metric ton ($US3.82 a pound),
That left it down 2.4% for the week, the biggest weekly drop for three months.
And oil futures edged lower Friday after China’s announcement.
Nymex January crude fell 44 cents, or 0.5%, to $US81.98 a barrel.
Oil shed 4% this week, its worst weekly loss since mid-August.
That includes Thursday’s 2% rally.
The drop follows last week’s 2.3% decline.
And March raw sugar futures fell 7.1% to end a rough week at 26.15 cents a pound in New York.
The commodity fell 0.2% this week after plummeting 17% the week before.
That seems a better performance, but was up more than 7% by Thursday’s close, before that was wiped out by the plunge Friday.
Chicago wheat futures for March fell half a per cent to $US6.84 a bushel on Friday.
That left it down 3.6% for the week.
