New York – U.S. stocks ended mixed Friday, and lower on the week, in a market where the strength and direction of Hurricane Rita dominated trading, with investors trying to gauge likely storm damage to oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico and the effect on crude prices.
The week also saw the Federal Reserve raise its key short-term rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.75 percent, with the central bank signaling further interest-rate increases are in the cards.
The Dow Jones industrial average Friday fell 2.46 points to 10,419.59, wrapping up a week in which the benchmark index fell 2.1 percent.
The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 6.06 points at 2,116.84. On the week, the tech-rich index shed 2 percent.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 0.67 point at 1,215.29; the broad gauge booked a weekly loss of 1.8 percent.
Stocks bounced off early lows after Hurricane Rita weakened to a Category 3 storm, sending crude-oil prices tumbling.
The Dow industrials ended in negative territory, due in large part to a more than 5 percent drop in shares of Alcoa after the aluminum giant warned that Hurricane Rita, low aluminum prices and higher raw- material costs would take a bite out of its third-quarter profits.
Crude-oil futures fell sharply in Friday afternoon trading as the hurricane weakened, fueling hopes that Gulf of Mexico oil rigs and refineries may escape serious damage.
Oil fields off the Texas and Louisiana coasts make up about 25 percent of U.S. production. Texas refineries account for 26 percent of the nation’s fuel-refining capacity.
The benchmark November crude contract ended down $2.31, or 3.5 percent, at $64.19 a barrel in New York trading. On the week, the contract rose 1.3 percent. Benchmark gasoline and natural-gas futures contracts also ended lower on the session but higher on the week.
On the currency markets, the dollar rose to a two-month high against the euro and recouped its losses against the Japanese yen as traders mulled over a People’s Bank of China decision to widen the yuan’s trading band against non-U.S.-dollar currencies.
China widened to 3 percent from 1.5 percent the band in which the yuan is allowed to trade against the euro, yen and Hong Kong dollar.
Gains in the yuan generally translate into gains for the yen, considered the proxy of the Asian currencies. The euro eased 0.8 percent to $1.2048. After slipping against the Japanese yen on the China announcement, the dollar turned higher, tacking on 0.6 percent to 112.38.
On the bond market, U.S. Treasury prices fell as a weakened Rita calmed concerns for the storm’s longer-run economic toll, at least momentarily.
