U.S. market indexes were lower on Friday. For the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18576.47, for a loss of -37.05 points, or -0.20%. The S&P 500 was also lower, closing at 2184.05, for a loss of -1.74 points, or -0.08%. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher for the day at 5232.89, for a gain of 4.50 points, or 0.09%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower for the day at 11.55, for a loss of -0.13 points, or -1.11%.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses for the day:
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (DD, Financial) -1.93%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM, Financial) -0.97%
Disney (DIS, Financial) -0.95%
For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.16%. The S&P 500 gained 0.04%. The Nasdaq Composite was also higher, gaining 0.22%.
Factors affecting the market in trading on Friday included producer prices, retail sales, business inventories, consumer sentiment and the Baker-Hughes Rig Count. Producer prices were down 0.4% month over month, however, they increased year over year at a rate of 0.7%. Retail sales were flat month over month and were down 0.3%, when excluding for automotive sales. Business inventories remained unchanged at 0.2%. Consumer sentiment was steady at 90.4. The Baker-Hughes Rig Count report showed an increase of 21 rigs for the week.
Indexes were slightly lower for the day with the mixed results. The flat retail sales report was a focus as investors watched earnings from retail stocks this week. For the week, the retail sector’s SPDR S&P Retail ETF gained 1.52%. Stocks leading gains for the week included Groupon (GRPN, Financial), with a gain of 18.05% and CVS Health Corp. (CVS, Financial), with a gain of 5.02%.
On Friday, department store stocks led gains. Nordstrom (JWN, Financial) gained 8.03%. JC Penney (JCP, Financial) gained 6.14%. Dillard's (DDS, Financial) gained 3.40%. Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD, Financial) gained 2.99%.
In a report Friday, CNBC provided greater insight into the day’s retail sales data.
Disclosure: I do not own any stocks included in this article.
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