30 Jul 2011

Bad week on Wall St

12:03 pm on 30 July 2011

Wall St has had its worst week this year as anxiety grows over the United States debt crisis and a continuing deadlock in Congress.

The ABC reports the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.2% for the week to close at 12,143.24 on Friday, having fallen for six consecutive trading days.

The S&P 500 dropped 3.9% for the week to 1,292.28, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 3.6% to close at 2,756.38.

The current limit on borrowing by the federal government is $US14.3 trillion and the deadline for Congress to raise it, is 2 August.

However, despite growing doubts about the creditworthiness of the federal government, investors snapped up US Treasury bonds.

The US dollar fell against other major currencies on Friday. The euro rose to $US1.4395 from $US1.4324 on Thursday morning.

The US dollar also weakened sharply against the Japanese currency, fetching 76.73 yen compared to 77.74 yen.

Oil prices fell on Friday. In New York, light sweet crude for delivery in September, fell $US1.74 cents to close at $US95.70 per barrel.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for September shed US62 cents to settle at $US116.74 per barrel.