US stocks close mixed as volatility continues; dollar retreats

US stocks ended mixed in another wild trading session as volatility continued to rattle investors amid economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday fell 76.42 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 23,062.40. The S&P 500 was down 3.09 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 2,485.74, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 5.03 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 6,584.52.

Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed lower, as losses in energy and materials outweighed gains in consumer discretionary and real estate.

The market experienced another furious trading day on Friday with all the three major indices flipping between gains and losses frequently throughout the day.

US equities staged a remarkable late-session comeback in wild trading on Thursday.

The Dow closed 260 points higher on Thursday after dropping as many as 611 points, notching its biggest intraday turnaround in 10 years. The S&P 500 posted solid gains after declining more than 2 per cent and the Nasdaq also turned positive at the close, erasing a 3 per cent earlier loss.

The US dollar weakened on Friday as investors' risk appetite shrank following a week of volatile trading on US stocks market.

Concerns over slowing global economic growth and unstable equities market have dampened investor sentiment in riskier asset classes and pressured the dollar.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, fell 0.07 per cent at 96.3965 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro fell to $1.1442 from $1.1450 in the previous session, and the British pound was up to $1.2691 from $1.2647 in the previous session. The Australian dollar was up to $0.7046 from $0.7021.

The US dollar bought 110.38 Japanese yen, lower than 110.73 Japanese yen of the previous session. The US dollar fell to 0.9856 Swiss franc from 0.9860 Swiss franc, and it fell to 1.3638 Canadian dollars from 1.3640 Canadian dollars.

--IANS

pgh/