Stocks post first weekly loss in 6 weeks
Stocks fell modestly Friday and extended the week's losses as the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 posted their first negative week in six weeks.
The S&P 500 index finished down 11.91 points, 0.6% to 1985.54 as the benchmark index slipped further away from its record high close of 2007.71 set a week ago today.
The Dow closed down 61.49 points, 0.4%, to 16,987.51. It was the fourth down day for the blue-chip index in the past five. For the week, the Dow and S&P were down about 1%.
The tech-laden Nasdaq composite index fell 24.21 points, 0.5%, to end at 4567.60.
Trading has been lackluster recently amid speculation that the Federal Reserve may change its guidance on interest rates and could begin raising interest rates sooner than many expected. Fed policymakers begin a two-day meeting next week to discuss monetary policy.
In economic news, retail sales rose 0.6% in August, the fastest pace since April as consumers stepped up their purchases. Sales excluding autos, rose 0.3%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 2.61% from 2.55% Thursday. Yields have risen sharply since hitting a low near 2.3% in August.
Overseas, European markets were mixed as Britain's FTSE index rose 0.1% to 6806.96 but Germany's DAX index dropped 0.4% to 9651.13.
Asian stock markets were also mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark edged higher 0.3% to 15,948.29 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.3% to 24,595.32.
On Thursday, Wall Street stocks finished the day mixed as a weaker-than-expected report on jobless claims, concerns about interest rate hikes and geopolitical threats weighed on investor sentiment. The Dow fell 9.71 points, 0.1%, to 17,049.00. The S&P 500 rose 1.76 points, 0.1%, to 1997.45 and the Nasdaq gained 5.28 points, 0.1%, to 4591.81.