Stock Market Watch

Stocks End on a Mixed Note

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Stocks struggled for direction in trading on Friday, ending the day on a mixed note, as some weak economic data weighed down investors’ sentiment.

The Dow Jones ended the day 0.08% higher at 14,712.55, the S&P 500 ended the day 0.18% lower at 1,582.24, and the Nasdaq ended the day 0.33% lower at 3,279.26.

All sectors in the S&P 500 except Conglomerates ended the day in red. Basic Materials sector led the losses in the S&P 500, ending the day 1.45% lower. Consumer Cyclical sector ended the day 0.45% lower. Energy sector closed 0.25% lower. Conglomerates ended the day 0.01% higher.

Among the major movers on Friday were D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI), which ended the day 8.68% higher at $26.66, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), which ended the day 7.24% lower at $254.81, and Baidu.com Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ: BIDU), which ended the day 7.93% lower at $85.02.

On the economic front, a report released by the Commerce Department showed that U.S. GDP grew 2.5% in the first quarter of 2013, which was below the consensus forecast of growth of 3%. Meanwhile, the final reading on Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for the month of April came in at 76.4, down from 78.6 in March.

European markets ended mostly lower on Friday, with the FTSE 100 Index in London closing 0.25% lower, and the CAC 40 Index in Paris closing 0.79% lower. Asian markets ended on a mixed note overnight, with the Nikkei 225 Index in Japan closing 0.30% lower, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong closing 0.65% 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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