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Thanks to a last minute rally, stocks ended off their lows on Friday but it wasn’t enough to prevent Wall Street from falling into a three-day slump.
Today's Markets
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 14.28 points, or 0.14%, to 10318.16, the S&P 500 sank 3.53 points, or 0.32%, to 1091.37 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 10.78 points, or 0.50%, to 2146.04.The FOX 50 dropped 2.65 points, or 0.33%, to 808.28.
Wall Street's November rally has run into resistance in recent days, with the Dow sinking more than 100 points since soaring to 13-month highs on Tuesday. Friday’s mini slide was driven by sinking energy stocks and the tumbling tech sector, which was hurt by Dell’s (DELL) ugly quarterly report.
“It’s not a very positive signal. All the signals we’re looking at are pretty bearish,” NYSE trader Ben Willis of VDM Institutional Brokerage told FOX Business.
Still, the Dow managed to close in the green this week for the third-straight time -- the longest weekly win streak since the one that ended in early August. And the pullback is relatively small compared to the 6.8% surge on the benchmark index during a 10-day stretch that ended Tuesday.
The Dow was led lower by Caterpillar (CAT) and General Electric (GE). The index's biggest percentage gainers were drug giants Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE), which led a strong session for the pharmaceutical sector.
The Nasdaq Composite, which ended the week more than 1% lower, slumped much further than the broader markets as tech stocks fell amid PC maker Dell's weaker-than-expected results. Dell plunged nearly 10% after missing estimates with a 54% drop in net income to 17 cents a share. Analysts had been expecting a profit of 27 cents a share.
It's worth noting that Friday's pullback came amid very light trading. In fact, consolidated volume, which encompasses more than just NYSE floor volume, came in at the third-lowest level of the entire year.
Without any major economic reports on the agenda, the focus was once again on the U.S. dollar, which has rebounded in recent days after having plunged throughout the fall. While a long-term positive for the economy, a rallying dollar has put pressure on crude oil, and the energy sector.
Energy stocks were the biggest drags on Friday, sinking roughly 1% as crude oil fell for the second day in a row. Individual stocks like XTO Energy (XTO) and Schlumberger (SLB) slid even further. Crude settled at $76.72 a barrel, down 74 cents, or 0.96%.
Despite the dollar's strength, gold rallied 14th day of the last 15 -- the longest streak of its kind in exchange traded history. The precious metal rose $5.00 a troy ounce, or 0.44%, to $1146.40.
Corporate Movers
J.M. Smucker (SJM) jumped 5% and hit 52-week highs after the jam and jelly company reported a quarterly profit of $1.22 a share, well above the $1.04 expected by analysts.The company also upped its full-year earnings view to $3.95 to $4.05 a share and said its revenue rose by a better-than-expected 52% to $1.28 billion
DR Horton (DHI) fell 15% after the home builder disclosed a loss of 73 cents a share, which was more than double the loss analysts had forecasted. The second-largest U.S. home builder also said its revenue slid 42% to $1 billion, missing the Street's view by $100 million.
Dr. Pepper Snapple (DPS) announced it will begin paying its first-ever quarterly dividend and said it authorized a $200 million stock repurchase program. The maker of Dr. Pepper and Mott’s apple juice said it plans to pay a 15-cents-a -share dividend to shareholders of record on Dec. 21., costing the company $38 million.
Global Markets
European stocks slumped as the U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 0.31% to 5251.41, Germany's DAX lost 0.68% to 5663.15 and France's CAC 40 dropped 0.82% to 3729.36.
Asian markets closed lower overnight. Japan's Nikkei 225 slid 0.54% to 9497.68 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slumped 0.83% to 22455.84.
Stocks decline in early morning tradingMarket Winners & Losers: International Game Technology, AIG
