Soft day on Wall Street Friday, Dow Jones edges up 32 points

U.S. stock markets end marginally higher at week's-end

Big News Network.com
22 Mar 2025, 01:37 GMT+10

Soft day on Wall Street Friday, Dow Jones edges up 32 points

“Companies are increasingly citing confusion and uncertainty around their planning and capital spending and hiring decisions."
“There’s an element of that playing out in the markets."
The U.S. dollar continued to strengthen Friday, crash-tackling the high flying British pound and euro.

NEW YORK, New York - Uncertainty continues to plague investors on Wall Street with Friday's trading being volatile and weak. The major indices traded in and out of negative territory, but managed to eke out minor gains at the close.

"Companies are increasingly citing confusion and uncertainty around their planning and capital spending and hiring decisions, and when they pause, it means that they're slowing down," Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management told CNBC Friday. "There's an element of that playing out in the markets," he said.

Following are Friday's closing quotes for the major U.S. stock indexes:

S&P 500: The Standard and Poor's 500 edged up by 4.68 points, or 0.08 percent, closing at 5,667.57. This slight gain was underpinned by advances in select sectors, although broader market sentiment remained cautious.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 32.00 points, also rising 0.08 percent, to end at 41,985.32. The modest uptick reflects a market grappling with mixed economic signals and geopolitical concerns.
NASDAQ Composite: The NASDAQ Composite outperformed other indices, climbing 92.42 points, or 0.52 percent, to close at 17,784.05. The technology-heavy index benefited from gains in major tech stocks, contributing to its relative strength.

U.S. dollar finishes week on high note

The U.S. dollar continued to strengthen Friday, crash-tackling the high flying British pound and euro, which had looked like toppling the crucial technical levels of 1.3000 and 1.1000. However they came crahsing down to earth Friday as the greenback notched up across-the-board gains.

EUR/USD:

The euro weakened against the U.S. dollar, with the EUR/USD pair declining by 0.30 percent to 1.0815. This depreciation is attributed to growing expectations of the European Central Bank (ECB) implementing rate cuts, driven by softer economic data.

USD/JPY:

The dollar strengthened against the Japanese Yen, with the USD/JPY pair rising by 0.33 percent to 149.27. This movement reflects the dollar's overall resilience amid global economic uncertainties.

USD/CAD:

The USD/CAD pair saw an uptick of 0.18 percent, to 1.4348. The Canadian dollar's slight depreciation against the U.S. dollar aligns with the broader trend of USD strength during the trading session.

GBP/USD:

The British Pound declined, with the GBP/USD pair falling by 0.37 percent to 1.2917. This decrease followed the Bank of England's decision to maintain interest rates at current levels, coupled with concerns over rising global trade tensions impacting economic growth.

USD/CHF:

The dollar appreciated against the Swiss Franc, with the USD/CHF pair increasing by 0.23 percent to 0.8831. This reflects the dollar's broad-based gains amid a cautious market environment.

AUD/USD:

The Australian Dollar weakened against the U.S. Dollar, with the AUD/USD pair declining by 0.49 percent to 0.6271. The risk-sensitive Aussie faced pressure amid global economic uncertainties and trade tensions.

NZD/USD:

The New Zealand Dollar also depreciated against the greenback, with the NZD/USD pair falling by 0.45 percent to 0.5731. Similar to the Australian Dollar, the Kiwi's decline is linked to heightened risk aversion in the markets.

Global stock markets end week divided, UK, European and Canadian shares fall, Asian equities close mixed

Global stock markets saw across-the-board declines in Europe, the UK and Canada on Friday. Shares in Hong Kong fell more than two percent, while the Shanghai Composite in China, and Japan's Nikkei 225 also notched up losses. Following are Friday's closing quotes for key world indices:

Canadian Market:

S&P/TSX Composite Index: In contrast, Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index declined by 91.75 points, or 0.37 percent, ending the session at 24,968.49. The downturn was primarily driven by losses in the energy and materials sectors, which are significant components of the Canadian market.

UK and European Markets:

FTSE 100 (United Kingdom): The index declined by 55.20 points, or 0.63 percent, closing at 8,646.79.
DAX (Germany): Germany's DAX fell 107.47 points, or 0.47 percent, ending at 22,891.68.
CAC 40 (France): France's CAC 40 decreased by 51.25 points, or 0.63 percent, to close at 8,042.95.
EURO STOXX 50: The pan-European EURO STOXX 50 index dropped 27.10 points, or 0.50 percent, finishing at 5,423.83.
Euronext 100: This index saw a decline of 8.51 points, or 0.53 percent, closing at 1,593.43.
BEL 20 (Belgium): Belgium's BEL 20 edged down by 7.96 points, or 0.18 percent, ending at 4,479.88.

Asian Markets:

Hang Seng Index (Hong Kong): The Hang Seng Index tumbled 530.23 points, or 2.19 percent, closing at 23,689.72.
STI Index (Singapore): Singapore's STI Index experienced a slight decrease of 4.04 points, or 0.10 percent, ending at 3,926.45.
S&P/ASX 200 (Australia): Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose by 12.30 points, or 0.16 percent, closing at 7,931.20.
ALL ORDINARIES (Australia): The All Ordinaries index increased by 9.80 points, or 0.12 percent, to finish at 8,158.70.
S&P BSE SENSEX (India): India's SENSEX surged 557.45 points, or 0.73 percent, closing at 76,905.51.
IDX Composite (Indonesia): Indonesia's IDX Composite fell 123.49 points, or 1.94 percent, ending at 6,258.18.
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI: Malaysia's KLCI edged up by 1.29 points, or 0.09 percent, closing at 1,505.45.
S&P/NZX 50 Index Gross (New Zealand): New Zealand's index gained 58.82 points, or 0.49 percent, ending at 12,113.54.
KOSPI Composite Index (South Korea): South Korea's KOSPI rose by 6.03 points, or 0.23 percent, closing at 2,643.13.
TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock Index (Taiwan): Taiwan's index decreased by 168.16 points, or 0.75 percent, ending at 22,209.10.
SSE Composite Index (China): China's SSE Composite Index dropped 44.12 points, or 1.29 percent, closing at 3,364.83.
Nikkei 225 (Japan): Japan's Nikkei 225 decreased by 74.82 points, or 0.20 percent, ending at 37,677.06.

Middle East

Middle East markets were mostly closed on Friday, and will re-open on Sunday.

African Markets:

Top 40 USD Net TRI Index (South Africa): This index declined by 40.02 points, or 0.82 percent, closing at 4,864.03.

Related stories:

Thursday 20 March 2025 | Wall Street struggles as continued continued uncertainty grips markets | Big News Network

Wednesday 19 March 2025 | U.S. stocks advance after Fed leaves interest rates unchanged | Big News Network

Tuesday 18 March 2025 | Sellers return to Wall Street, Nasdaq Composite drops 305 points | Big News Network

Monday 17 March 2025 | U.S. stocks rally continues Monday, Dow Jones adds 353 points | Big News Network

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