Wall Street closed mixed overnight as investors took profits after a massive gain in previous session. US shares mostly fell earlier in the day, but rebounded towards the close. Analysts said that market sentiment remained bullish.
US stocks overnight closed at a new high for the year as the G20 finance ministers and central bankers pledged to keep stimulus measures until a recovery was certain. Dow jumped more than 200 points for the session, with 29 of the index's 30 components finished in the green.
Wall Street posted a small gain on Friday despite the Labour Department report showed the US unemployment rate broke above 10 per cent in October, up from 9.8 per cent in September. But the number of jobs lost narrowed to the lowest level in more than a year.
US shares fell overnight led by Wells Fargo. A late sell-off in financial stocks was triggered after an analyst cut his investment rating on the company, saying the quality of its earnings was pretty poor. The Federal Reserve's latest beige book, showing weak consumer spending during late summer, also weighed down the market.
Wall Street declined overnight on a weak housing report, despite some strong earnings results. The Commerce Department said that construction starts on privately owned homes rose 0.5 per cent to 590,000, lower than expectations.
Wall Street hit new highs for the year over optimism of the corporate earnings. The rise was led by Caterpillar as a broker said the company was among the best-positioned companies to benefit from improving global growth and spending on construction, infrastructure and commodities.
US stocks climbed to a 2009 new high on Thursday, as the oil prices surge buoyed energy companies. New York crude oil futures rose more than 3 per cent to a one-year high of US$77.58 a barrel after the government said US gasoline reserves fell sharply last week. The financial and IT stocks retreated over mixed economic data and corporate outlook.
