16.06.2008 11:25

STOCKS: weekly review

U.S. stock indexes gained Friday, paring the week's losses, after oil retreated and some measures of inflation matched economists' forecasts, damping speculation the Federal Reserve will boost interest rates this year. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.4%. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 2.1%.

The lineup of Fed speakers included Fed Chairman Bernanke himself, as well as Vice Chairman Kohn, New York Fed President Geithner, Dallas Fed President Fisher and Philadelphia Fed President Plosser. The latter two Fed members have been the biggest inflation hawks at the Fed, having dissented on either the need to cut rates, or the amount by which rates were cut, at recent Fed meetings. Central bank officials in Europe also sounded a similarly hawkish note.

Target Corp., AMR Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. gained as crude fell as much as 2.4%. Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley rallied after so-called core prices climbed 0.2 percent, meeting the average estimate of economists. Microsoft Corp., the world's biggest software maker, advanced for a second day after abandoning its bid for Yahoo! Inc.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-biggest U.S. securities firm, rallied the most since April and had the steepest gain in the S&P 500. BlackRock Inc., the largest publicly traded fund manager in the U.S., said it bought Lehman shares in a secondary offering this week and is optimistic about the firm's prospects. Lehman climbed 14%.
Microsoft advanced 2.9%, the highest since May 19. The world's biggest software maker yesterday refused to pay the $47.5 billion price it offered last month for Yahoo! Inc., the owner of the most-visited U.S. Web site.
Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest soft-drink maker, fell the most in the Dow average, losing 3%. Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co., the world's second- biggest bottler of Coke beverages and 24 percent owned by Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, cut annual forecasts for sales and profit as surging food and fuel prices curbed consumer spending.