27 Jun 2009

US stocks mixed in profit-taking after rally

3:33 pm on 27 June 2009

Wall Street shares ended mixed on Friday as investors mostly locked in profits from a strong rally the previous day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 34.01 points, or 0.40%, to end the week at 8,438.39 at the market close. The previous day the index had posted its first triple-digit gain since 1 June following an upward revision in US economic output and mostly positive company earnings results.

The tech-dominant Nasdaq was up 8.68 points, or 0.47%, to 1,838.22 while the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 shed 1.36 points, or 0.15%, to 918.90.

The blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 indices posted their second straight weekly drop as investors turned cautious about the prospects of the economy recovering.

US consumer spending rose modestly in May despite a surge in personal incomes boosted by massive government spending to kick-start the economy out of recession, official data showed.

The Commerce Department reported consumer spending rose for the first time in three months, by 0.3% in May, in line with the expectations of private economists.

But the savings rate shot up to a 15-year high as incomes spiked, suggesting consumers were being tight-fisted with their money in the face of mounting unemployment and home foreclosures.