U.S. stocks end higher on oil shares
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday after see-sawing wildly throughout the day, as energy company shares rose on higher oil prices and positive news in the technology sector offset worries about the housing and credit markets.
The rise in equities reduced the safe-haven appeal of U.S. government debt, with the 2-year U.S. Treasury note down 3/32, with the yield at 3.3569 percent.
The dollar, meanwhile, was down on Friday but stayed on tracked for its biggest weekly gain against a basket of major currencies in a month, with dealers wary of adding much to extended bets against the greenback with the uncertainty surrounding the credit market.
Shares of energy companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N) gained following a 1.8 percent rise in oil prices to $94.85 a barrel.
Meanwhile, Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO.O), the network equipment maker, said its board had approved an additional $10 billion for buying back company shares, while computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) was upgraded to "overweight" by Morgan Stanley.
Even so, lingering concerns about the housing and credit markets persisted. In the latest development, Fannie Mae (FNM.N) shares plunged to their lowest level in more than a decade after the biggest U.S. mortgage finance company failed to calm investors concerned about its accounting related to troubled loans.
Fannie Mae shares were down 5.50 percent at $40.69, after earlier falling as low as $36.86, the lowest level since April 1997.
"The biggest concern right now is the mounting uncertainty about what skeletons remain in the credit markets' closet," said Andre Bakhos, president of Princeton Financial Group.
But investors looked passed that, at least during the last hour of the trading day. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI settled up 66.74 points, or 0.51 percent, at 13,176.79. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 7.59 points, or 0.52 percent, at 1,458.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 18.73 points, or 0.72 percent, at 2,637.24.
But the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.78 percent, having earlier hit a two-month low.
Earlier, Japan's Nikkei average fell 1.6 percent, or 241.69 points, to close at 15,154.61. The benchmark has fallen 17 percent from this year's high of 18,300.39 in February. So far this year it is down 12 percent.
The broader TOPIX index lost 1.8 percent to 1,471.67. It is down 12.5 percent year-to-date.
GREENBACK GETS SOME RELIEF
In currency markets, the dollar broadly fell on data for October showing the biggest drop in U.S. industrial production since January and on lower-than-expected foreign investment in U.S. assets in September.
Yet, the dollar rose against the yen as U.S. stocks rose earlier in the day. Continued...
