WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After pulling back sharply in early trading on Friday, stocks regained some ground as the day progressed but still ended the session firmly in the red. The losses on the day partly offset the strong gains posted in the two previous sessions.
Financial stocks saw considerable weakness on the day after contributing to the strong upward moves seen in the two previous sessions.
Reflecting the weakness in the financial sector, the Dow Jones Banks Index and the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index tumbled by 2 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively.
Significant weakness was also visible among oil service stocks, resulting in a 1.9 percent drop by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The weakness in the sector came as crude oil for February delivery slid $0.43 to $48.36 a barrel.
Retail, transportation, and steel stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.
Meanwhile, gold stocks bucked the downtrend amid an increase by the price of the precious metal. With gold for February delivery climbing $7.60 to $1,216.10 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surged up by 5 percent.
The major averages posted notable losses but were well off their worst levels. The Dow tumbled 170.50 points or 1 percent to 17,737.37, the Nasdaq fell 32.12 points or 0.7 percent to 4,704.07 and the S&P 500 slid 17.33 points or 0.8 percent to 2,044.81.
Following several volatile sessions, the major averages closed moderately lower for the week. The S&P 500 dropped by 0.7 percent, while the Dow and the Nasdaq both fell by 0.5 percent.
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