Stocks move higher despite Japan worries

Updated: 8:00 p.m. ET

U.S. stocks moved up today but finished well off their highs. The rally was fueled by gains in energy and metals shares. Investors saw greater demand for building materials and energy as Japan starts to rebuild after today's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Japanese stocks closed sharply lower because of the quake. The Nikkei 225 Index ($JP:N225) fell 1.7% to 10,254. Big companies such as Toyota (TM) and Sony (SNE) shut down factories. Oil refineries shut down.

Asian and European stocks closed lower in response to the Japanese crisis.

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The Dow Jones industrials ($INDU) closed up 60 points to 12,044; the blue chips had been up as many as 102 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) was up 9 points to 1,304, and the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) added 15 points to 2,716. Despite today's gains, the Dow and the S&P 500 ended roughly 1% lower for the week, with the Nasdaq off 2.5%, as worries about violence in Libya and turmoil in the Middle East caused the market to fall three days out of five. It was the second week in three that the major indexes fell back.

Crude oil settled down $1.54 to $101.16 a barrel after briefly dipping to $99. It was trading at $100.67 after hours. Brent crude was off $1.73 to $113.41 a barrel. Two reasons appeared to power the declines: Japan's immediate oil needs may be lower because of the earthquake, and scheduled protests in Saudi Arabia today apparently caused few disruptions and won't affect Saudi oil production.

Gold settled up $9.30 to $1,421.80 an ounce. Copper, wheat, corn and cotton continued sell-offs that started earlier this week. Corn was off for the sixth straight day; wheat is down for the fifth day in a tow.

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Interest rates were up slightly, with the 10-year Treasury yield at 3.408%, up from Thursday's 3.393%.
 
Japanese stocks drop after earthquake
American depositary receipts of Japanese companies were mostly lower. Toyota Motor (TM) was down 2.1% to $85.65. Honda Motor (HMC) dropped 2.4% to $39.74. Sony (SNE) was off 2.4% to $33.45. Electronics manufacturer Hitachi (HIT) fell 2.2% to $59.12.

The  8.9 earthquake -- the fifth-largest on record -- rocked Japan on Friday afternoon, causing a 13-foot tsunami. Several hundred people were reported dead, and aftershocks continued to be felt in Tokyo, where 4 million people were without electricity.

Japanese authorities evacuated thousands of residents from an area around the Fukushima nuclear reactor northeast of Tokyo because the quake raised fears of a radiation leak. Officials, however, said there was no sign of leakage at present. The United States rushed coolant to the plant.

Markets for the week
			3/11/2011			3/4/2011			% chg.			YTD chg.
Dow industrials			12,044.40			12,169.88			-1.03%			4.03%
S&P 500			1,304.28			1,321.15			-1.28%			3.71%
Nasdaq			2,715.61			2,784.67			-2.48%			2.36%
Russell 2000			802.83			824.99			-2.69%			2.45%
Crude oil			$101.16			$104.42			-3.12%			10.70%
(per barrel)
U.S. Dollar Index			76.77			76.42			0.46%			-3.18%
10-yr. Treasury			3.39%			3.49%			-2.84%			2.66%
Gold			$1,421.80			$1,428.60			-0.48%			0.03%
(per troy ounce)

Energy and metals shares lead market
Energy shares were higher despite oil's drop today. Exxon Mobil (XOM) was up 0.9% to $82.12. Chevron (CVX) added 0.9% to $99.93. Refiners Tesoro (TSO), up 8.5% to $24.51,  and Valero (VLO), up 6.3% to $27.98, were the top and and third-best performers among S&P 500 stocks. Both would see better profits if oil prices fell.

And metals stocks also moved higher. Alcoa (AA) was up 1.5% to $16.03. Steel Dynamics (STLD) rose 3.9% to $18.55. The company forecast first-quarter earnings may be as high as 42 cents a share, compared with the Street estimate of 38 cents. Other steelmakers rallied. AK Steel (AKS) jumped 5.8% to $15.46. U.S. Steel (X) gained 4.5% to $55.14. 

Energy prices -- New York close
			Fri.			Thur.			Month chg.			YTD chg.
Crude oil			$101.16			$102.70			4.32%			10.70%
(per barrel)
Heating oil			$3.0290			$3.0449			2.88%			19.08%
(per gallon)
Natural gas			$3.8890			$3.8300			-3.93%			-11.71%
(per mil. BTU)
Unleaded gasoline			$2.9877			$3.0196			-3.93%			-11.71%
(per gallon)
Brent crude			$113.84			$115.14			1.82%			20.15%
(per barrel)
Retail gasoline			$3.5420			$3.5290			5.17%			15.30%
(per gallon; AAA)

3M, Caterpillar lead the Dow

Twenty-five of the 30 Dow stocks were higher, led by 3M (MMM), Caterpillar (CAT) and Alcoa. All were up better than 1.5%. The laggards were Verizon Communications (VZ) and AT&T (T), off 1.5% to $35.85 and 0.5% to $28.46, respectively.

Transportation stocks, especially those of airlines, were higher as crude oil moved lower. American Airlines parent AMR (AMR) was up 1.2% to $6.61. JetBlue Airways (JBLU) rose 1.3% to $6.08.

Sixty-two Nasdaq-100 ($NDX.X) stocks were higher, led by Amgen (AMGN), up 3.3% to $53.53. The index was up 19 points to 2,302. Apple (AAPL), up 1.5% to $351.99, contributed nearly 7 points of the index's gain. Sales of the iPad 2 began today.

Short hits from the markets -- New York close
			Fri.			Thur.			Month chg.			YTD chg.
Treasury yields
13-week Treasury bill			0.070%			0.070%			-50.00%			-41.67%
5-year Treasury note			2.043%			2.058%			-4.40%			1.34%
10-year Treasury note			3.393%			3.393%			-0.62%			2.66%
30-year Treasury bond			4.541%			4.536%			1.14%			4.10%
Currencies
U.S. Dollar Index			76.770			77.274			-0.20%			-3.18%
British pound			$1.6085			$1.6067			-1.21%			3.07%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. $ in pounds			£0.622			£0.622			1.22%			-2.98%
Euro in dollars			$1.391			$1.380			0.63%			3.99%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. $ in euros			€ 0.719			€ 0.724			-0.62%			-3.84%
U.S. $ in yen			82.034			82.880			-0.08%			0.82%
U.S. $ in Chinese			6.597			6.572			0.08%			-0.27%
yuan
Canada dollar			$1.029			$1.026			-0.06%			2.57%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. dollar			$0.972			$0.975			0.06%			-2.51%
(in Canadian $)
Commodities
Gold			$1,421.80			$1,412.50			0.54%			0.03%
(per troy ounce)
Copper			$4.208			$4.198			-5.87%			-5.39%
(per pound)
Silver			$35.935			$35.066			5.89%			16.16%
(per troy ounce)
Wheat			$7.1875			$7.4050			-12.29%			-9.51%
(per bushel)
Corn			$6.6425			$6.8275			-9.13%			6.71%
(per bushel)
Cotton			$2.0494			$1.9123			-0.10%			41.52%
(per pound)
Crude oil			$101.16			$102.70			4.32%			10.70%
(per barrel)