Weekly Market Wrap: August 30, 2013
Friday, August 30, 5:25 PM ET

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Hi. I'm Sayoko Murase. Welcome to the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for August 30, 2013.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq and the S&P 500 all lower for the week.

Crude oil futures are higher this week, trading around $108 per barrel on Friday afternoon.

Gold futures are flat this week, trading around $1,396 an ounce in Friday afternoon trading.

In notable economic news this week, the Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 to a seasonably adjusted rate of 331,000 claims. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits has been on the decline all year and are once again nearing five and a half year lows. Also reported this week was that US GDP had grown 2.5% in the second quarter -- well above the 1.7% the government had initially estimated.

In corporate news, Vodaphone (NASDAQ:VOD) confirmed that it is engaged is discussions with Verizon (NYSE:VZ) to sell its 45% stake in the Verizon Wireless joint venture. It is believed that Verizon would want to purchase the wireless unit for about $100 billion, while Vodaphone would like $130 billion for its stake.

Zale (ZLC) reported fiscal fourth quarter loss of $8 million, or 25 cents per share, as revenue climbed to $417.1 million. The company said despite the loss in the fourth quarter, it was still able to post a full year profit -- the first since 2008.

Tiffany (TIF) reported second quarter earnings of $106.8 million, or 83 cents per share, as revenue climbed by 4% to just under $926 million. The jewelry company saw strong growth from the Asia-Pacific region as sales jumped by 20% in the quarter.

This is the 'Weekly Market Wrap' for Friday August 30, 2013. Please join us on Monday for the Week Ahead Market Report.

For MarketNewsVideo.com, I'm Sayoko Murase.