The Dow Jones and S&P 500 finished lower on Friday to end their second consecutive week in negative territory. Stocks have stumbled recently, following three months of strong gains, as investors wondered whether the market has got ahead of itself after some mixed economic reports. On Friday this was apparent from data on personal income and saving. The Commerce Department said that personal income rose 1.4% in May, topping expectations. However, rather than spend, consumers have opted to save. Personal saving as a percentage of income rose to 6.9% in May from 5.6% in April.
The Dow Jones fell 34.01 points to close at 8,438.39 while the S&P 500 edged 1.36 points lower to 918.90. The Nasdaq added 8.68 points to finish at 1,838.22.
In corporate news, KB Home tumbled 9% following its latest figures. The homebuilder reported a second quarter loss that was bigger than expected. Also in the sector, Lennar said its second quarter sales and earnings dropped from a year ago. However, new home sales and orders have picked up since the first quarter, resulting in shares slipping just 0.1%.
Elsewhere, Palm impressed investors with a narrower than expected fourth quarter loss, due partly to strong demand for its new Pre Smartphone. Shares in the company surged 16% higher.
US light crude oil for August delivery fell $1.07 to $69.16 a barrel.
COMEX gold for August delivery added $1.50 to $941 an ounce.
Treasury prices were almost unchanged, leaving the yield on the 10 year note at 3.54%.
The Nikkei dropped 93.92 points to close at 9,783.47 this morning after two brokerages announced plans for public share offerings. Daiwa Securities Group tumbled 12% while Mizuho lost 3.4% after announcing their intentions to raise cash, with the latter potentially starting the process as early as this week.
The Hang Seng is currently 90.14 points lower at 18,510.12. Commodity related shares lead the decline after oil and metal prices fell. Cnooc, China's biggest offshore oil producer, loses 1.9% while Jiangxi Copper, the nation's biggest producer of the metal, slid 2.5%.
The FTSE 100 is currently 8.76 points higher at 4,249.77. Lloyds gains 3.2% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to its Conviction Buy list. Insurance broker, Admiral, advances 3.2% after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to Outperform from Neutral. Serco rises 2.2% after reporting good first half figures and saying it was on track to meet its 2009 forecast.