NEW YORK, New York -- Stock markets reversed sharp losses in late trading to make minor gains in the industrials sector, while techs registered minuscule losses. The extent of losses in recent weeks and months has put the Standard and Poor's 500 on the brink of a bear market.
George Ball, chairman of Sanders Morris Harris, was quoted by CNBC as saying in a note to clients that stocks are still liberally priced and the psychology that drove them upward for a decade has turned negative. It probably has more downside room to run, as the average bear market lasts a year 338 days, more precisely. This downturn has run for only one-third of that, so it probably has more upside room to run, albeit punctuated by interim rallies. The Dow Jones industrials were down more than 200 points early in the final hour, but the deficit evaporated as strong buying emerged.
The Dow was ahead of the market by 8.77 points or 0.03 percent at 31,261. The Standard and Poor's 500 had a 0.57 point or 0.01 percent rise to 3,901. The Nasdaq Composite fell 33.88 points or 0.20 percent to 11,354. The U.S. dollar was under pressure throughout Friday. The euro was close to New York City at 1.0554. The Swiss franc eased a bit to 0.9749 after a tad in the direction of 0.9749.
The Australian dollar increased to 0.7039. The New Zealand dollar was sought after at 0.6393.
On overseas equity markets, the FTSE 100 gained 1.19 percent. The Dax was up 0.72 percent in Germany. The Paris-based CAC 40 added 0.20 percent.
China's Shanghai Composite increased 49.60 points or 1.60 percent to close Friday at 3,146. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng increased by 614.32 points or 3.05 percent to 20,735. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo surged 336.19 points or 1.27 percent to 26,739. The Australian All Ordinaries rose by 87.70 points or 1.20 percent to 7,391. In New Zealand, the S&P NZX 50 gained 60.46 points, or 0.54 percent, to 11,267.