6 May 2011

Offshore markets down again

9:07 am on 6 May 2011

Stocks in the United States have fallen for the fourth consecutive session, as weak labour data rekindled worries about consumer demand and the strength of the economic recovery.

The Dow Jones Index on Thursday was down 139 points, or more than 1%, to close at 12,584.

The Nasdaq Composite closed down 14 points, or 0.5%, at 2815.

In London, the FTSE 100 fell 1.1% to close at 5920, due to a slide in commodity prices. Lloyds Banking Group led financials down.

Across the Tasman, the Australian 200 Index rose 14 points, or 0.3%, to close at 4753 on Thursday. The NZX 50 rose 4 points, to finish at 3499

At 8.25am on Friday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 78.38 US cents, 74.17 Australian cents, 47.85 pence, 62.87 yen and 0.5393 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 67.42.

Brent crude oil was trading at $US115.67 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1477.20 per ounce.