Video: Reuters Business Recap for the Week of November 12, 2007

The stock markets were again under pressure last week after more bad investments were revealed by financial companies, which have dominated the headlines lately. The only bright spot last week was Wal-Mart which saw its shares up more than 8% in the past 5 trading sessions. Earning forecasts from other retailers such as JCPenny, Macy’s and Ann Taylor were, however, disappointing as holiday shopping season approaches. The soaring energy prices and slumping housing market may finally put a break on consumer spending.

For the week, major indices snapped a two-week losing streak to post moderate gains, thanks to the 320-point advance of the Dow on Tuesday propelled by the upbeat earning report from Wal-Mart. The S&P increased by 0.4% to 1,458.74, the Dow added 1% to 13,176.79, and the NASDAQ rose 0.4% to 2,637.24. Gold price, after some relentless gains in the recent weeks, finally took a breather, giving up $46.70 to end the week at $785.40 an ounce. Crude oil also lowered, losing $2.48 to close at $93.84/barrel on NYMEX on Friday.

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