Commonwealth Bank of Australia

The Australian shares closed with little change on Friday. The market rebounded from early losses as a surprise guidance upgrade by Commonwealth Bank pushed the financial sector higher in late trade. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index gained 1.6 points to 4899.6, while the broader All Ordinaries index added 0.1 point to 4929.5.

Dow Jones Industrial Average Friday retreated about 1.5 per cent on concerns over the problem of Dubai World. But European shares reversed earlier sharp losses due to some bargain hunting buying.

Wall Street posted a small gain on Friday despite the Labour Department report showed the US unemployment rate broke above 10 per cent in October, up from 9.8 per cent in September. But the number of jobs lost narrowed to the lowest level in more than a year.

US stocks closed mixed overnight as investors took profit ahead of the wave of corporate earnings offset the news of an acquisition in technology sector. Dow index ended slightly lower while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite was up on Cisco's deal to purchase Starent Networks.

Overnight the US stocks closed higher on the positive Alcoa earnings and better-than-expected weekly jobless claims and consumer spending. Investors were also encouraged by the US retailers' first same-store sales gains in more than a year.

US stocks fell overnight ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest decision on monetary policy and guidance on the outlook for recovery from the recession. The market was also weighed down by the worries that the banking sector has yet to fundamentally improve.

US Stocks declined on Wednesday on a weak sales outlook from P & G and concerns over the service and labour sectors. Economic data showed an unexpected fall in activity in the service sector and larger-than-expected losses of private sector jobs.

Wall Street closed at a nine-month high overnight boosted by earnings reports and encouraging economic data in US manufacturing activity and new car sales. Energy and materials companies also broadly lifted the market.

The Board of Foster's Group Limited (ASX:FGL) has approved a $US500 million 3-year syndicated debt facility, following a recent successful road-show and invitation to Asian bank debt markets.

Wall Street finished mixed overnight. Dow and S&P 500 indices ended their rising streak while Nasdaq posted its 11th straight rise led by Apple and Yahoo. Investors started to lock in their profits from a series of rallies driven by earnings reports.