by NEW YORK, New York – Stocks were somewhat directionless on Friday following jobs data which was mixed, and continued uncertainty over international trade relations, and the direction of interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 69.31 points, or 0.26%, to 26,797.46.
The Standard and Poor’s rose 2.72 points, or 0.09%, to 2,978.72.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 13.75 points, or 0.17%, to 8,103.07.
The U.S. dollar inched higher against the majors, but lot a little ground to the commodity currencies.
Around the New York close the euro was trading at 1.1029, the British pound at 1.2295, the Japanese yen at 106.92 and the Swiss franc at 0.9880.
The Canadian dollar rose to 1.3179. The Australian dollar jumped to 0.6846. The New Zealand dollar strengthened to 0.6424.
Modest gains were recorded in the UK and Europe. The FTSE 100 in London added 0.15%. The German Dax rose by 0.54%. In Paris, the CACX 40 climbed 0.19%.
Stocks in Asia were higher across the board. In Japan the Nikkei 225 rose 113.63 points or 0.54% to 21,199.57 on Friday.
In China, the Shanghai Composite put on 13.74 points or 0.46% to 2,999.60.
The Australian All Ordinaries gained 31.90 points or 0.74% to 6,752.70.
