It was a week marked by extreme volatility, and Friday's trading was no different, with stocks swinging back and forth between positive and negative territory. A big afternoon rally was snuffed out in the last hour of trading as uncertainty took hold before the weekend.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 127.04 points, or 1.41 percent, to 8,852.22, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 5.88 points, or 0.62 percent, to 940.55. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 6.42 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,711.29.
NYMEX-NEW YORK, Oct 17 - U.S. crude futures ended $2 higher on Friday on expectations that OPEC's emergency meeting
next week would decide to cut the group's output and as stocks on Wall Street rose sharply.
When they meet Oct. 24, OPEC oil ministers are leaning towards cutting production by 1-1.5 million barrels per day, the United Arab Emirates' news agency WAM said on Friday, citing an OPEC source.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, November crude
CBOT SOYBEANS - November up 27 cents at $8.94 per bushel; January up 26-1/2 at $9.06-3/4.
Short covering after this week's drop to a 14-month low. Robust export sales add support, along with strength in crude oil and upturn in U.S. stock market.
SOYOIL - December up 0.05 cent at 35.50 cents per lb. Buoyed by strength in soybeans and crude oil.
FCPO-JAKARTA, Oct 17 - Malaysian palm oil futures gave up gains of more than 3 percent to finish lower on Friday, unsettled by fears that a global recession will cut demand, traders said.
The early rally was mainly driven by a rebound in crude oil prices in Asian trade after a 6 percent drop on Thursday.
"People are lacking confidence in the upside despite oil's recovery. People are more concerned about the global economy, so sentiment is still bearish," a trader at a commodity brokerage in Malaysia said.
The benchmark January contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed down 16 ringgit, or 0.97 percent, to 1,635 ringgit ($463) a tonne.
REGIONAL MARKET-SINGAPORE, Oct 17 - Most Southeast Asian stock markets fell to fresh multi-year lows on Friday as concerns over an impending global recession added further pressure on banks reeling from the credit crisis.
Losses were widespread, but the region's investors were given some reprieve from the heart-stopping share price swings seen earlier in the week.
Singapore slipped 3.7 percent, closing at a four-year low, while Indonesian shares fell 4.4 percent to their lowest close in more than 26 months.
Malaysian shares ended down 1.6 percent after hitting their lowest since July 2006, while the Philippine index shed 1.1 percent to end the week flat.
Thai shares fell 1.3 percent, while Vietnamese stocks dipped 0.6 percent on Friday but the two markets were the only ones to gain slightly this week.
