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NYSE: US stock markets finish week mixed

US stock markets ended mixed on Friday with the leading Dow Jones Industrial Average higher for a fourth straight trading day as investors set their sights on lower interest rates.

The Dow held its gains following a speech by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke late on Thursday in which the central bank chief warned that strains in the financial markets may lead to broader economic problems.

Wall Street read that as meaning fresh interest rate cuts are imminent.

The Dow stock barometer finished up 59.99 points (0.45 percent) at a close of 13,371.72, but off earlier highs which had seen the index soar by over 100 points.

Technology stocks lost momentum as the NASDAQ composite fell 7.17 points (0.27 percent) to 2,660.96. The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 11.42 points (0.78 percent) to a close of 1,481.14.

Analysts said the Fed is expected to cut rates again on Dec. 11 following back-to-back rate cuts in September and October amid a lingering housing meltdown, tightening credit markets and rising energy costs.

"Bernanke yesterday did seem to be indicating his personal belief that rate cuts are necessary," said Dick Green, a market analyst at Briefing.com.

The central bank's short-term Fed funds rate is currently pegged at 4.5 percent.

"Financial shares were higher on speculation the government will cut borrowing costs and negotiate a deal with banks to fix interest rates on sub-prime mortgages," said Al Goldman, a chief market strategist at AG Edwards.

Financial stocks have been plagued by mounting losses tied to subprime mortgages which were granted to people with poor credit before the housing market entered a slump last year.

Citigroup's stock closed up 3.1 percent at US$33.30 while Merrill Lynch finished 4.4 percent higher at US$59.94.

On the economic front, the government announced that consumer spending edged higher last month, by 0.2 percent, but the gain was weaker than most economists had expected.

Economists fear that the housing meltdown and other economic concerns might force consumers to cut back spending amid the crucial pre-Christmas shopping season.

"It seems that the US consumer is starting to show some signs of fatigue in October, as the credit troubles, high oil prices, and weak dollar all begin to take their toll," said Charmaine Buskas, senior economic strategist at TD Securities.

Motorola's share price finished up 2 percent at US$15.97 after the US mobile phone maker said its embattled chief executive Ed Zander was stepping down.

The phone maker named Greg Brown, 47, the company's president and chief operating officer, as its new CEO, although the job switch will not take effect until Jan. 1.

The management reshuffle comes as Motorola vies to keep its market share amid aggressive competition from Nokia and Samsung.

Shares in online broker ETrade ended down 4.5 percent at US$4.60 a day after it announced it was getting a US$2.5-billion cash infusion from a big hedge fund to help shore up its ailing balance sheet.

Bond prices weakened as the yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose to 3.972 percent from 3.940 percent on Thursday and that on the 30-year bond increased to 4.403 percent from 4.349 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
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