Markets: US Up, Asia, Europe, Commodities Weak To Mixed

A small sigh of relief on Friday night as US sharemarkets posted their first weekly gain since April, with the S&P 500 and Dow ending moderately higher in the face of worries about Europe's debt crisis and a slowing US economy.

It wasn't a week to write home about though, but any gain will do, and positive developments in Europe over the weekend will probably help markets start the coming week on a firmer tone than a week ago.

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The Dow Jones ended the day at 12,004.36, up 42.84 points on the day, and 52.45 points for the week.

The index had fallen every week since the end of April.

The S&P 500 added 3.86 points Friday, or 0.3%, to end at 1,271.50.

That's just 0.52 point higher than its close a week ago, but enough to push the index into the green.

But the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 7.22 points, or 0.3%, to 2,616.5, its fifth straight week of losses.

Australian shares will probably start flat today after the Share Price Index rose 3 points in overnight trading Friday to end at 4482.

That's a slight discount to Friday's close for the ASX200 of 4484.9.

At Friday's close, the ASX200 index was up just 5.7 points after being up 1% in earlier trading.

The All Ords was up 0.1% at 4551.1.

For the week, the ASX200 fell 1.7%, touching a nine-month low.

It was the fourth straight weekly drop, the longest since February last year.

The Australian dollar rose from the local close to end the week at $US1.061, a solid rise given that it fell close to $US1.05 midweek.

In Asia, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 1.9% last week for the seventh straight weekly loss in a row.

It is the worst losing streak for seven years and topped a six week streak back in 2008 after Lehman Brothers tanked.

The Hang Seng Index lost 1.2% - extending a 1.8% fall Thursday - to finish at 21,695.26, while the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.8%.

The Nikkei Stock Average closed 0.6% lower at 9,351.40, while South Korea's Kospi fell 0.7%.

For the week, Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 1.7%, South Korea's Kospi index dropped 0.7%, Australia was down 1.7%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 3.2% on growing worries about the city state's ongoing property boom

The index entered a correction phase last Thursday, June 16 after falling more than 10% from its recent high on April 8. Australia narrowly avoided one on Friday with the ASX 200 down around 9.7% from its peak.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 2.3% last week after the central bank ordered lenders to set aside more cash as reserves after inflation accelerated to a 34 month high.

European shares fell 0.4% (on the Stoxx 600 Index) for a 7th week as well.

The FTSE 100 in London lost 0.9% over the week, Germany's Dax rose 1.3% and Paris CAC was up 0.5%.

In commodities, US oil futures ended down 2% at $US93.01 a barrel, the lowest since mid-February.

Brent in London lost 81c to close at $US113.210 a barrel, pushing the premium with Cushing (where the US crude contract is deliverable to) out to a record $US20 a barrel.

That's because there's too much oil sitting in the tank farms at Cushing, which is depressing prices.

Over the week, Nymex WTI oil lost 6.2%.

Comex August futures rose $US9.30 an ounce, or 0.6%, to $1,539.10 an ounce.

On the week, gold gained 0.6%.

Silver for July delivery added 19c on Friday to end at $US35.75 an ounce.

But on the week, however, silver lost 1.6%.

Comex copper for July delivery lost 2c, or 0.4%, to $US4.10 a pound in New York, but for the week, it rose 1%.

There's growing confidence that demand from China will soon start rising with a 36% fall in copper stocks in that country in the past month.

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