Major US stock indices closed about even
Monday to the end of the worst month for US markets in six years, dpa reported.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 10.2 per cent of its value over the
month, its largest June retreat since 1930, at the depths of the crash during
the Great Depression. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index plummeted 8.6
per cent in June.
Financial shares, which have led much of the decline throughout 2008, were down
again Monday after JP Morgan Chase said that mortgage-backed securities would
continue losing value in the face of the ongoing credit crisis. Lehman Brothers
fell on speculation that it could be a takeover target.
The blue-chip Dow industrials edged up 3.5 points, or 0.03 per cent, to
11,350.01. The S&P 500 added 1.62 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 1,280. The
technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was down 22.65 points, or 0.98 per
cent, to 2,292.98.
The US currency climbed against the euro to 63.47 euro cents on Monday from
63.32 euro cents on Friday. The dollar fell against the Japanese currency to
106.1 yen from 106.14 yen on Friday.
Gold fell by 3 dollars to 928.30 dollars per fine ounce.
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