World Market Overview Report 28/02/2011

US markets

U.S. stocks rose Friday after three days of losses as shares of Boeing surged and as lessening fears over oil supply helped crude prices stabilize. Still, major stock indexes were on track to post their biggest weekly drops of the year. Friday's modest climb shaved off only a portion of the week's losses after anxiety over the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa had sent oil prices to their highest levels in more than two years.Boeing climbed 2.8% after the Air Force awarded a tanker deal valued at more than $30 billion to the company late Thursday.

Intel was also strong, rising 3%, after Citigroup analysts said sales of personal computers could pick up in March, with Intel, Advanced Micro Devices and Marvell as three of the biggest beneficiaries. Shares of AMD gained 2.2%, while Marvell rose 4.7%. Friday's gains did manage to halt the week's streak of losses.

Crude-oil futures stabilized as worries faded about supply shortages related to the unrest in Libya. Saudi Arabia and a group of major oil-consuming nations said Thursday there is plenty of oil on hand to replace supplies halted from Libya. Crude-oil prices remained below $98 a barrel for most of the session. Stocks also got a mild lift from the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer-sentiment index, which rose to its highest level in 3 years

European markets

European bourses snapped a five session losing streak to finish decidedly higher Friday, as investors chose to focus on oil trading below $100 a barrel and set aside for now their concerns about continuing violence in Libya. Paced by rising shares in Paris, the Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 1.3% to 284.12, paring losses for the week to 2.4%. The gains were broad based, though financial stocks and miners rallied notably. U.S. markets opened higher and got an extra lift early on by solid consumer-sentiment data. European markets have had a rough week, as investors have gotten increasingly spooked by the continued unrest in the Mideast and North Africa.

Asian markets

Most Asian stocks advanced on Friday as investors temporarily looked past turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa to snap up beaten-down shares after an overnight retreat in crude-oil prices. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.8% and 0.7%, respectively. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average added 0.7%, while Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.7%. China's Shanghai Composite ended little changed after rising for two straight sessions, while India's Sensex shed 0.1%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 58 points in screen trade.