United States

Wall Street recovered from an opening loss on Friday following weak jobs data and the pre-emptive Thursday rout.

There was no waiting for tonight’s US employment data. The global economy levee broke last night and the world was down 3%.

Wall Street finished flat last night as commodities recovered somewhat from earlier falls and the Dow retraced from down 100.

The oil price fell a total of nearly US$6 over the US long weekend but the subsequent 250 point rally in the Dow turned into down 26 by day’s end.

Was there anyone there? The Dow fell 171 points as Wall Street headed off for the long weekend.

A second quarter revised GDP of 3.3% was better than most anyone was expecting, sending the Dow up 200 points.

The newswires are running hot with talk of global US dollar intervention planned back in March, but it’s hardly news.

The Dow rose 89 points on a good durable goods number while the twins made further gains and Gustav forced evacuations.

TS Gustav is shaping up to be the first true hurricane threat of the season, commanding focus in a lacklustre day’s trading on Wall Street.

Up 200 Friday, down 200 last night. Oil barely moved and metals markets were shut. It was an across the board sell-off, led by financials.