February 25, 2007	Sunday	Safar 7, 1428

NEW YORK, Feb 24: Leading blue-chip shares lost ground in the holiday-shortened week to Friday, partly due to inflation concerns, with investors bracing for the release of fresh inflation readings in the week ahead.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.94 per cent for the week to finish Friday at 12,647.48 points, days after striking a record closing high of 12,786.64 on Tuesday.

The broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index shed 0.30 per cent on the week to 1,451.19.

Tech stocks faired better, however, as the Nasdaq composite index gained 0.75 per cent to finish at 2,515.19 points.

Market participants said the end-of-week inflationary jitters, triggered after crude oil prices surged above 61 dollars a barrel, were likely to run over into the coming week which will see a sharp uptick in economic news.

Inflation continues to be sort of the key focus for investors, said Michael Malone, an analyst at Cowen and Co.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has said that the US central bank stands ready to hike interest rates if inflationary pressures spike.

Investors are likely to pour over the government's fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) report due to be released Wednesday for fresh inflation clues, although the numbers will be slightly dated.

Most economists are predicting that fourth-quarter economic growth moderated to 2.3 per cent from 3.5 per cent in the prior quarter.

Thursday's scheduled release of personal income and spending data is also likely to attract attention as investors seek an update on January income and spending patterns following the Christmas shopping season.

Personal income is expected to slow to a 0.3 per cent gain compared with a 0.5 per cent rise in the prior month, while spending is predicted to moderate to 0.4 per cent from 0.7 per cent.

Analysts warned that further stock declines could be ahead and that the importance of economic releases is likely to mount as the fourth-quarter corporate earnings season wraps up.

With the main earnings season event finished, economic reports and retailers will take center stage before we go into the quiet season in mid-March, said Frederic Dickson, a chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson and Co.

The coming week will also yield fresh updates on auto sales, existing home sales and consumer confidence.An update on new home sales, due to be released Wednesday, is also likely to be closely watched for further signs of weakness in the housing market.

Analysts expect US new home sales to slow to 1.090 million units in January from a 1.120-million-unit clip in the prior month as homes take longer to sell and potential buyers get more picky about signing on the dotted line for a new property.—AFP