New York, Oct 13 (EFE).- Wall Street closed the second week of October with mixed results after the escalation of violence in the Middle East pushed up the price of crude oil and the data on inflation in the United States was slightly higher than expected.
Overall, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices posted weekly gains of 0.79% and 0.45%, respectively, while the Nasdaq fell 0.18%.
On Thursday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its inflation data for September, which showed that the rate was flat at 3.7% year-over-year, slightly above investors’ expectations.
In addition, tensions in the Middle East contributed to a spike in the price of Texas crude oil, which closed Friday up more than 5% at $87.69 per barrel, dragging Wall Street down.
Later in Friday’s trading, data on consumer expectations from the University of Michigan tempered investors.
The surveys pointed to a rebound in inflation expectations, which has a negative impact on consumer appetite.
Meanwhile, equities were buoyed by a drop in the yield on the 10-year US Treasury, which fell to 4.6% on Friday from a high of 4.8% earlier in the month.
However, LPL Financial analyst Adam Turnquist told CNBC that there will be ups and downs in the market until yields reach 4.35%.
Strong bank earnings helped too, providing a boost to financial earnings, which exceeded investor expectations.
America’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase, reported third-quarter earnings of $13.15 billion, up from $9.74 billion a year ago.
That pushed the giant’s stock to $4.33 per share, beating the $3.95 per share expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Meanwhile, gold had its best day of the year this Friday, rising more than 3%. EFE
jdg/mcd/ics
