Stock Market Watch

Stocks End Lower

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Stocks ended lower in trading on Friday as uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s bond purchase program weighed down sentiment. Stocks also slipped amid concerns over the debt-ceiling issue.

Earlier this week, stocks had rallied after the Fed surprised market participants by maintaining its bond purchases at $85 billion a month. However, the initial euphoria faded after comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said that the Fed might start tapering as early as next month.

The Dow Jones ended the day 1.19% lower at 15,451.09, the S&P 500 ended the day 0.72% lower at 1,709.91, and the Nasdaq ended the day 0.39% lower at 3,774.73. For the week, the Dow Jones rose 0.49%, the S&P 500 rose 1.30%, and the Nasdaq rose 1.41%.

All sectors in the S&P 500 ended the day in red. Basic Materials sector led the losses in the S&P 500, ending the day 1.83% lower. Utilities also fell sharply, ending the day 1.29% lower. Industrials ended the day 1.01% lower.

Among the major movers on Friday included Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI), which ended the day 7.14% lower at $45.78, BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY), which ended the day 17.06% lower at $8.73, and Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ: TXN), which ended the day 0.67% lower at $40.52.

European markets ended mostly lower on Friday, with the FTSE 100 Index in London closing 0.44% lower, and the CAC 40 Index in Paris closing 0.06% lower. Asian markets ended on a mixed note overnight, with the Nikkei 225 Index in Japan closing 0.16% lower, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong closing 1.67% higher.

 








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edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.

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Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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