U.S. market indexes were lower Friday as stocks in the U.S. continued to fall. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 17865.34 for a loss of -119.85 points or -0.67 percent. The S&P 500 was also down, closing at 2096.07 for a loss of -19.41 points or -0.92 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 4894.55 for a loss of -64.07 points or -1.29 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 17.01 for a gain of 2.37 points or 16.19 percent.
Source: DJIA, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite. Google Finance.
Stocks ended the week mostly lower as they resisted new highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher by 0.34 percent. The S&P 500 was lower by 0.14 percent. The Nasdaq was also lower by 0.96 percent.
Friday’s Market Movers
The leading economic indicator for the day was the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index report. The report showed consumer sentiment continuing to remain strong with a reading of 94.3. At 94.3 the Index remained near the previous month’s 94.7 and was just at consensus of 94.5. Other reports for the day included the Baker Hughes North American Rig Count which was higher for the month by 30 with oil prices falling below $50. The Treasury Budget was also released on Friday with a deficit of $53 billion.
Stocks continued to fall as a selloff appears to be beginning and market speculators are calling the market overvalued. Actively traded stocks leading losses for the day included Bank of America Corp, Chesapeake Energy, Apple, Ford, General Electric and Microsoft.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, stocks leading losses for the day included:
Goldman Sachs Group -2.1 percent
Boeing -1.5 percent
Caterpillar -1.48 percent
JPMorgan Chase -1.41 percent
Visa -1.34 percent
American Express -1.13 percent
UnitedHealth Group -1.02 percent
3M -0.94 percent
Apple -0.83 percent
Chevron -0.8 percent
Top sectors down for the day included energy, financial and industrial. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 4894.55 for a loss of -64.07 points or -1.29 percent. In the technology sector the Nasdaq 100 was lower at 4460.35 for a loss of -52.34 points or -1.16 percent. Stocks leading losses in the technology sector included the following:
Viacom -5.38 percent
Akamai Technologies -4.89 percent
Tesla -4.61 percent
Discovery Communications -4.32 percent
Liberty Global -4.17 percent
In commodities, gold traded higher as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a gain of 0.49 points or 0.40 percent. The dollar was higher for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index closed at 94.59 for a gain of 0.52 points or 0.55 percent.
Small-Cap Stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 followed the day’s trend lower closing at 1163.93 for a loss of -17.27 points or -1.46 percent. The S&P 600 closed at 712.58 for a loss of -9.93 points or -1.37 percent. The DJ Small-Cap Growth TSM was lower at 7122.87 for a loss of -132.74 points or -1.83 percent. The DJ Small-Cap Value TSM was also lower closing at 8376.36 for a loss of -99.57 points or -1.17 percent.
Other Notable Indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index which closed at 1499.07 for a loss of -21.91 points or -1.44 percent; the Russell 3000 closing at 1236.39 for a loss of -12.88 points or -1.03 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index which closed at 600.31 for a loss of -4.46 points or -0.74 percent.