October 22, 2006	Sunday	Ramazan 28, 1427

NEW YORK, Oct 21: Wall Street share prices ended mixed on Friday as investors mulled their holdings and the blue-chip Dow Jones index continued to hover near record highs.

The Dow Jones Industrials Average closed down a slight 9.36 points (0.08 per cent) at 12,002.37, after closing at an all-time high of 12,011.73 on Thursday.

The index has smashed the 12,000-point barrier for the first time as major US corporations have announced robust third-quarter earnings, and as oil prices have fallen dramatically.

The tech-laden Nasdaq composite meanwhile closed up a slight 1.36 points (0.06 per cent) at 2,342.30, while the broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index ended 1.64 points (0.12 per cent) higher at 1,368.60.

Traders said they had expected some consolidation going into the weekend ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting next week. The US central bank is widely expected to keep US short-term interest rates on hold at 5.25 per cent.

We have had a fantastic week, said Art Hogan, an analyst at Jefferies.

The 12,000 points were possible thanks to a combination of factors: low energy prices, stabilized interest rates, positive earnings, Hogan said.

Wall Street's bullish mood was dented a shade Friday, however, after heavy equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. announced worse-than-expected quarterly earnings which saw its shares fall heavily.

Caterpillar said its third-quarter net profits rose 21 per cent to 769 million dollars compared with the same period a year ago. That translated into 1.14 dollars per share, well below Wall Street forecasts of 1.35 dollars.

Caterpillar's shares closed down a hefty $10.02, or 14.5 per cent, at $59.00.

Internet search giant Google's share price closed up 33.61 dollars, or 7.9 per cent, at 459.67 dollars after it posted robust earnings Thursday.—AFP