American indexes opened lower on Friday, the last day of the month and the last before a three-day weekend.
In the United States, a mixed report on consumer spending and personal income tempered the open.
The Commerce Department reported that consumer spending was unchanged in April while personal incomes rose 0.4 percent. Both numbers were less than forecast, and the stagnant consumer spending raises concerns about whether the recovery could slow. In addition, the savings rate rose 3.6 percent in April from 3.1 percent in March.
In addition, the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago reported that manufacturing in the Midwest expanded in May. The index fell to 59.7 in May from 63.8 in April, but figures greater than 50 signal expansion.
In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was 30.61 points or 0.3 percent lower, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index declined 0.2 percent. The technology heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.17 percent. Markets in the United States will be closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.
Apple’s shares were up 3.7 percent on reports of strong interest in the iPad in Europe and Asia.
European stocks, meanwhile, turned mixed in afternoon trading while key indexes in Japan, Hong Kong and Australia all added more than 1.2 percent, buoyed by one of the best performances that Wall Street has seen this year.
The FTSE-100 in London was flat and the Euro Stoxx 50 benchmark for the region was down 0.27 percent.
Yields on most euro-zone benchmark bonds fell slightly. Analysts said demand at an Italian government bond auction of various maturities Friday was good. It was the first test of appetite for Italian paper since an austerity plan was announced by Rome this week.
There were also gains in the euro’s exchange rate.
The euro was trading at $1.2415, up from $1.2362 late Thursday.
And the London interbank offered rate known as Libor — a rate that banks pay to borrow in dollars for three months — declined for the first time in 14 sessions. It slipped to 0.536 percent from 0.538 percent Thursday, according to the British Bankers’ Association.
Daimler, the German luxury carmaker, raised its profit forecast for the Mercedes-Benz division helped by better global demand. Its shares added 1.4 percent. MAN, a German truck maker, climbed 1.7 percent, after it gave positive signals on sales this year.
By the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was up 1.3 percent at 9,762.98 points, adding to the gains of 0.7 percent and 1.2 percent made on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
The Kospi in South Korea closed up 1 percent, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia rallied 1.8 percent and in Taiwan, the Taiex rose 0.7 percent. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up 1.7 percent.
In mainland China, where investors have been skittish for months over the authorities’ attempts to rein in the pace of the country’s booming growth, the Shanghai composite index was almost unchanged.
Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia were closed for a public holiday.
The gains in Asia followed a jump of 284.54 points, or 2.9 percent, on the Dow Jones industrial average overnight as investors took heart from reassurances out of Beijing that the Chinese authorities were not reviewing their euro investments, despite the widespread concerns about the euro zone economy and a sharp slide in the euro this year.
Parliamentary approval of additional budget cuts in Spain, whose debt levels have also begun to worry markets this month, also helped investor sentiment.
But the vote in Madrid was a tight one, highlighting the immense challenges facing policy makers there and elsewhere in Europe in their efforts to rein in high budget deficits.
The painful savings measures announced by a string of European governments in recent weeks, while necessary, also have raised concerns that the region’s fragile recovery could be nipped in the bud. These concerns, say analysts, are likely to dog global financial markets and lead to volatile trading in the coming weeks and months.
By MATTHEW SALTMARSH
Tags: businesses, consumers, Dow Jones Industrial, economic recovery, euro zone, european stocks, financial markets, Global Economy, investors, stock market, U.S. markets, us economic, wall street
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