Traders are pictured at their desks in front of the DAX board at the Frankfurt stock exchange, Sept. 21, 2012.Lizza May David/Reuters
Stocks ended down on Friday after spending most of the day in positive territory, putting major indexes under water in their first full week of trading since the Federal Resreve unveiled a bold round of stimulus last week.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 13,579.47, down 17.46 points or 0.1 per cent. The broader S&P 500 closed at 1,460.15, down 0.11 point or 0 per cent. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed at 12,383.60, down 25.65 points or 0.2 per cent.
Stocks had begun the day looking relatively strong, following a report that European policy makers are set to announce plans for a Spanish financial bailout as early as next week – reducing some uncertainty surrounding the ongoing euro zone sovereign debt crisis.
However, nothing is simple in Europe: Germany's finance minister added that Spain does not need a bailout.
Apple Inc. rose 0.2 per cent, though it had been considerably higher earlier in the day, after its new iPhone went on sale, attracting enthusiastic crowds of consumers.
Research In Motion Ltd., whose BlackBerry smart phone has been suffering declining market share, fell 7.4 per cent after some of its customers in Europe, Africa and the Middle East suffered a service interruption. RIM is set to report is fiscal second quarter results next week.
Crude oil in New York ended at $93.08 (U.S.) a barrel, up 66 cents. However, Canadian energy producers saw earlier gains evaporate: Suncor Energy Inc. fell 0.2 per cent and Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. fell 1.2 per cent Gold traded at $1,778 an ounce, up $7.80. Barrick Gold Corp. rose 0.5 per cent.
David Berman