IN BRIEF

NEW YORK

Stocks finish lower to cap punishing week

Wall Street finished a dismal week with a mixed performance Friday as investors grappled with fears about insurers of distressed mortgage-backed bonds and anxiety about the broader economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average, which rose in earlier trading, fell more than 60 points, while the Nasdaq composite index managed a gain. Both ended the week down more than 4 percent, however, and it was the Dow's worst week, percentagewise, since March 2003.

The Dow dropped 64.87, or 0.53 percent, to 12,182.13 -- above its lows of the day, but well off its highs, too. The biggest losers among the 30 Dow companies were financial companies American Express Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5.62, or 0.42 percent, to 1,331.29, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 11.82, or 0.52 percent, to 2,304.85.

The Dow ended the week down 561.06, or 4.40 percent, while the S&P 500 index lost 64.13, or 4.60 percent, and the Nasdaq fell 108.51, or 4.50 percent.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq fared better than the other indexes Friday thanks partly to Amazon.com, which authorized a $1 billion share buyback program. The online retailer rose $2.59, or 3.7 percent, to $73.50.

PARIS

French police arrest second trader in case

French police had a second trader in custody Friday in their investigation of trades that led to massive losses at bank Societe Generale, respected daily Le Monde reported.

Police were unavailable to immediately confirm the report that they were questioning the trader. The newspaper reported, citing unspecified sources, that the trader was being questioned about his relationship with Jerome Kerviel, a futures trader accused by Societe Generale of massive unauthorized bets on European markets.

Societe Generale announced Jan. 24 that it lost $7.09 billion cleaning up unauthorized transactions by Kerviel. It was harsh news for the bank -- one of France's biggest -- and for a financial market already roiled by the subprime mortgage crisis.

NEW YORK

Supply concerns send oil prices rising anew

Oil futures jumped back above $91 Friday, building on the previous session's gains on renewed concerns about supply disruptions and also advancing on waning fears of a recession that would curb demand.

Crude gained on word that oil exports from Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer and a major U.S. supplier, could fall by as much as 1 million barrels a day due to the nation's deteriorating security situation and planned maintenance. Nigeria is locked in a long-running battle with rebels intent on hurting the nation's oil industry infrastructure.

Prices also rose on news that North Sea oil production has been cut by 280,000 barrels a day due to technical problems at a Total SA oil field, and that Russian crude output could fall this year due to the depletion of a large oil field, said JBC Energy GmbH, an energy research firm in Vienna, Austria, in a research report.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery jumped $3.66 to settle at $91.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Newmont Mining reviewing assets

Newmont Mining Corp., the world's second-largest gold producer by volume, said it is reviewing its assets to decide whether any should be sold.

The review also will include the company's nongold mining investments, Chief Executive Officer Richard O'Brien told investors Friday in Denver, where the company is based. Among those assets is an 18 percent holding in Toronto-based Gabriel Resources Ltd. and a 40 percent stake in the Fort a la Corne diamond-exploration joint venture with Canada's Shore Gold.

O'Brien, CEO for less than a year, already has sold Newmont's royalty business for $1.3 billion to focus on mining gold.

BOSTON

Polaroid to shutter factories, cut 450 jobs

Polaroid Corp. is dropping the technology it pioneered long before digital photography rendered instant film obsolete to all but a few nostalgia buffs.

Polaroid is closing factories in Massachusetts, Mexico and the Netherlands and cutting 450 jobs as the brand synonymous with instant images focuses on ventures such as a portable printer for images from cell phones and Polaroid-branded digital cameras, televisions and digital video disc players.

This year's closures will leave Polaroid with 150 employees at its Concord headquarters and a site in the nearby Boston suburb of Waltham, down from peak global employment of nearly 21,000 in 1978.

Deutsche Bank raises stake in CSX Corp.

Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in CSX Corp., the third-largest U.S. railroad, to 8.7 percent to become the railroad's biggest shareholder.

Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, held 36.7 million shares as of Dec. 31, according to a U.S. regulatory filing Friday. The Frankfurt-based bank previously had been the second-largest CSX holder with 19.5 million shares, according to Bloomberg data. CSX is based in Jacksonville, Fla.

Merrill Lynch & Co., the world's biggest brokerage, had been the largest holder as of Sept. 30, with 33.7 million shares, or 8 percent, according to Bloomberg data.

Newmont Mining reviewing its assets

Newmont Mining Corp., the world's second-largest gold producer by volume, said it is reviewing its assets to decide whether any should be sold.

NEW YORK

Treasury prices rally; traders turn defensive

Treasury prices rallied Friday as investors turned defensive due to concerns about problems with leveraged bank loans.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 0.94 points to 98.78 Friday with a yield of 3.65 percent, down from 3.76 percent Thursday according to BGCantor Market Data.

The 30-year bond gained 1.09 to 99.63 with a yield of 4.43 percent, down from 4.53 percent late Thursday.