Down week
The stock market ended a down week with light selling as investors grew uneasy about a rising dollar and spiking demand for the safest government debt. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the week with a 0.5 percent gain but broader indexes slid. The Dow slipped 14.28 to 10,318.16. The S&P 500 index fell 3.52 to 1,091.38, while the Nasdaq fell 10.78 to 2,146.04.
Gold glitters
Gold prices climbed for the sixth-straight session on speculation that the dollar will decline. Gold futures for December delivery rose $4.90, or 0.4 percent, to $1,146.80 on the Comex.
A
nn Taylor
Ann Taylor Stores reported third-quarter earnings of $0.20 per share excluding aftertax restructuring and asset impairment charges of $0.17 per diluted share, compared with earnings per diluted share of $0.03 in the third quarter of 2008.
B&N reader
Barnes & Noble’s electronic book reader, the Nook, won’t be available before Christmas. The earliest that anyone who ordered the $259 device yesterday will receive it is Jan. 4, 2010, B&N said. Customers can get a certificate to present in lieu of the device.
Sprint rating
Sprint Nextel had its debt rating cut by Moody’s Investors Service one level to Ba2, two levels below investment grade, and its outlook listed as negative, meaning the carrier could be subject to further downgrades.