The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 25,450.24 on Friday with a loss of 22.99 points or -0.09%. The S&P 500 closed at 2,743.07 for a loss of 5.86 points or -0.21%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 7,408.14 for a loss of 13.32 points or -0.18%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 16.23 for a loss of 0.36 points or -2.17%.
For the week, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 were both down 2.5%, with the Nasdaq reporting a loss of 3.0%. Year to date, the Nasdaq now has a return of 11.8%, the S&P 500 has a gain of 9.4% and the Dow Jones is up 9.3%.
Friday’s market movers
The Food and Drug Administration commissioner’s surprise resignation, China trade and concerns over economic contraction were top factors in the week-long selloff. Friday’s jobs report was also a detractor after new payrolls were reported at 20,000, far below the expectation of 175,000. The unemployment rate was lower at 3.8%, down from 4.0%.
Economic reports affecting market trading included the following:
- Building permits increased 1.4% in January.
- Housing starts increased 18.6% in January, beating the consensus estimate of 9.9%.
- Non-farm payrolls increased by 20,000 in February. The unemployment rate decreased to 3.8%.
- The Baker Hughes North American oil rig count decreased to 1,216 from 1,249.
In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses:
- Exxon Mobil (XOM, Financial) -1.33%
- Pfizer (PFE, Financial) -1.12%
- Coca-Cola (KO, Financial) -1.04%
- Caterpillar (CAT, Financial) -0.94%
- Home Depot (HD, Financial) -0.64%
- Merck (MRK, Financial) -0.58%
Small-cap stocks
In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1,522.10 for a loss of 1.53 points or -0.10%. The S&P 600 closed at 934.75 for a loss of 0.98 points or -0.10%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 9,615.69 for a loss of 22.10 points or -0.23%. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 9,439.30 for a loss of 8.41 points or -0.09%.
Other notable indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1,860.30 for a loss of 5.24 points or -0.28%; the S&P 100 at 1,211.02 for a loss of 1.86 points or -0.15%; the Russell 3000 at 1,620.68 for a loss of 3.38 points or -0.21%; the Russell 1000 at 1,521.01 for a loss of 3.28 points or -0.22%; the Wilshire 5000 at 28,402.06 for a loss of 60.94 points or -0.21%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 691.51 for a loss of 1.05 points or -0.15%.
