US stock markets faltered after an unexpected decline of the consumer sentiment index, but managed to stay in the black before the end of the week.
The consumer sentiment index unexpectedly dropped in September. The index came in at 66.6, lower than the expected 70 and the 68.9 reading in the prior month. With the unemployment rate at 9.6%, pessimism about the state of the economy is building.
Inflation for August came in at 0.3% as expected, the same increase as in July. Overall prices did not rise if energy and food costs were excluded, which are more volatile.
Core inflation, meaning inflation excluding energy and food prices, was expected to be 0.1%, according to a group of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
The DJIA and S&P 500 were almost unchanged while the NASDAQ advanced by 0.5% going into market close.
The US dollar index, which tracks the performance of the US dollar against a basket of six other currencies, advanced approximately 0.2%.
Crucell (NASDAQ:CRXL) jumped 56% after the company announced it was in talks with Johnson & Johnson to sell itself. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), which edged slightly upwards by 0.1%, may pay as much as 1.75 billion Euros for the vaccine maker.
Other large gainers include Liberty Media (NASDAQ:LINTB) which rallied 11%, while NetSuite (NYSE:N) and Pegasystems (Public, NASDAQ:PEGA) both jumped about 9%.
Coal producer Massey Energy (NYSE:MEE) racked up a loss of almost 8% after the company said fiscal 2010 results are expected to be at the low end of its previous guidance. Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) and Brinker International (NYSE: EAT) also went into the red zone, retreating 7% and 6.6%, respectively.
Commodities
Crude oil futures edged lower by 0.5% to trade at $78.1 per barrel.
Gold futures advanced by 0.3% to trade at $1278 per ounce. Silver advanced 0.3%, while copper advanced 0.9% to trade at $3.5 per pound.
Canadian markets
The S&P/TSX index declined 0.1% to trade at the 12,156 level, moments before market close.
Four of eight sector indices posted losses. The financials and utilities sectors suffered the most losses, declining of 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.
Led by RIM, the information technology sector made the largest gains, advancing 1%.
Research In Motion (TSX:RIM, NASDAQ:RIMM) rallied 2% after reporting a 68% jump in second quarter profits late Thursday, beating analyst estimates.
Gabriel Resources (TSX: GBU) rallied almost 18% after the Romanian Technical Analysis Committee confirmed the continuation of the environmental permitting process for its 80%-owned Rosia Montana project in Romania.
Other notable gainers include HudBay Minerals Inc. (TSE:HBM), which advanced 3.2% and Centamin Egypt (TSX: CEE), which rallied 4.2%.
Detour Gold Corporation (TSX: DGC) Uranium One (TSX: UUU) and New Gold (TSX:NGD, AMEX:NGD) are set to finish the week in the red. The respective companies retreated 4.5%, 4%, and 3%.