Stock Markets News

HONG KONG - Asian markets were mixed Friday as investors digested uneven readings on the U.S. economy and more record oil prices. Japan posted its 12th straight day of losses.

TOKYO - Japan's key stock index extended its longest slide in more than a half-century, as record oil prices intensified concerns over the impact on corporate earnings and consumer demand.

LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks slipped back towards this week's five-month low on Friday as steadying oil prices failed to erase concerns about slowing economic growth and rising inflation, and as banking stocks came under renewed pressure.

Steel and mining stocks tumbled Wednesday, but as China and India continue to build their way into the 21st century, steel and the iron ore and coking coal to make it are still hot commodities.

NEW YORK - Wall Street capped a shortened trading week with a mixed finish Thursday after some uneven economic data: news of a contraction in the nation's services sector and a tame reading on employment. But stocks still had their third dismal week in a row, with the major indexes again posting losses as worries about rising oil prices and the fallout from the credit crisis dogged the market.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former Morgan Stanley financial analyst and her husband, an ex-hedge fund analyst at ING Group, have settled insider trading charges, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Dow rose on Thursday, a day after the blue-chip average entered a bear market, on relief payrolls data was not as weak as some had feared and with another record oil price boosting energy shares.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With the Dow sliding into a bear market on Wednesday, the dark days on Wall Street are far from over, amid record oil prices, struggling consumers and the never-ending credit crisis.

Stock exchanges in China and Hong Kong are set to shrug aside the market uncertainty and host a further 86 initial public offerings in the second half of 2008, according to an authoritative study published yesterday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Nikkei average fell 1.3 percent on Wednesday to hit its longest losing streak in more than 40 years, as worries about the global economy hit exporters such as Canon Inc (7751.T).

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former New York Stock Exchange chief Richard Grasso won a knockout victory on Tuesday in his four-year fight to keep every last penny of his $187.5 million pay package, as an appeals court threw out the state's remaining claims against him.

NEW YORK (AFP) - An appeals court Tuesday gave former New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) chief Richard Grasso a total victory by dismissing all claims seeking reimbursement of a contested 100-million-dollar severance payout.

ALBANY, N.Y. - The four-year legal battle over former NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso's $187.5 million compensation package ended Tuesday when a New York appeals court dismissed claims against him of excessive pay and the state's top prosecutor said the case was closed.

LONDON (AFP) - Blue chips remained at lower levels midafternoon, dragged down by the banking sector amid fears of profit warnings, with Wall Street lower on the back of ongoing concerns over rising oil prices.

After a great run, real estate investments have suffered over the past year, with the average real estate mutual fund down 18%, according to Morningstar. David Lee has managed the $2.5 billion T. Rowe Price Real Estate Fund (NASDAQ:TRREX - News) since it opened in October 1997, so he has seen tough times before. In the two years after the fund started, shares of real estate investment trusts (REITs) lost almost 20%, even as the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index raced ahead 50%. "Even my family was calling up saying they were going to disown me," Lee jokes.

FRANKFURT (AFP) - Much has changed at the Frankfurt stock exchange in 20 years but as its Dax index celebrates the milestone it remains the barometer for German economic well-being.

One of the largest China-focused exchange traded funds is iShares FTSE/Xinhua 25 (NYSEArca:FXI.TO - News). It's down 12.30% over the last month and 22.74% year to date. The ETF has $6.7 billion in assets.

NEW YORK - The year is nearly halfway over, and Wall Street appears to be on even shakier ground than when it began 2008. And this shortened week ahead of the Fourth of July holiday is unlikely to bring the market enough proof that the economic climate is improving.

NEW YORK (AFP) - Approaching the halfway point through 2008, Wall Street is mired in worries about a sputtering US economy and surging energy costs as the market braces for second-quarter corporate results.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the Federal Reserve and securities regulators neared an agreement on investment banks, leaders of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Friday warned them not to get ahead of Congress with any Wall Street reforms.

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index ended with a moderate gain on Friday as resource issues were propped up by gold and oil prices, while the rest of the market followed the lead of sliding U.S. stocks.

NEW YORK (AFP) - Oil prices briefly struck fresh record highs over 142 dollars on Friday as the US dollar remained weak, and as world stock markets tumbled amid economic jitters marking the end of a volatile week.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Friday confirmed one Republican and two Democratic nominees to fill open commissioner seats at the Securities and Exchange Commission, returning the agency to full strength as it tackles oversight of big U.S. investment banks and other issues.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) of stocks slid on Friday into bear market territory as investors fretted about the impact of record oil prices and mounting credit losses in the financial sector.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose to a record near $143 a barrel on Friday as a drop in global equities markets sent fresh investors into commodities.

LONDON (AFP) - European stocks mostly fell on Friday as oil prices shot to record levels, but losses were less than falls on other global markets hit by soaring crude costs and a weak US economy.

HONG KONG - Asian stock markets tumbled Friday amid growing alarm as oil prices spiked above $141 a barrel for the first time and Wall Street plummeted overnight.

London (Reuters) - S&P 500 futures rose 0.2 percent, Dow Jones industrial average furtures were up 0.2 percent and futures for the Nasdaq 100 were up 0.2 percent early on Friday. U.S. benchmark indexes (.DJI) (.SPX) (.IXIC) fell 3 percent on Thursday.

Investors put more cash into stock funds in May, despite markets that were choppy and ended the month nearly flat.