Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Global markets fell near the end of the week on the release of a mixture of both positive and negative economic data out of the US and Australia.

Higher than forecast personal income and construction spending data early in the week pushed the Dow as high as 8,740.87 and the NASDAQ up to 1,836.80.

The release of payroll figures and a twenty five year high unemployment rate of 9.2 percent near the end of the week saw the Dow fall to 8,675.24 after briefly erasing 2009 losses.

Both the Dow and the NASDAQ closed higher than last week, posting 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent gains respectively, according to reports.

Asian markets gained through most of the week, boosted by positive economic reports out of the US and an unexpected 0.4 percent expansion in the Australian economy.

The Nikkei rose as high as 9,764.14, before US payroll and unemployment figures pushed the index down to 9,668.96, up 2.3 percent over last week.

South Asian markets saw gains into this week, with the BSE Sensex rising 4.6 percent to 14,954.02 and the domestic DSE General Index gaining 95 points to 2,683.48.

BBN/SS/SI/AD-05June09-12:24 pm (BST)