Dow snaps eight-session streak as commodities weigh
The Dow industrials snapped an eight-session winning streak on Friday, as renewed worries about Greece sparked a climb in the dollar and weighed on U.S. stocks.
Sectors sensitive to dollar moves were hit hard, including materials, chip makers and energy. The S&P Energy Index <.GSPE> was down 0.9 percent as commodities, including gold and U.S. crude oil futures, dropped. Dow component Exxon Mobil
The euro fell to more than a two-week low against the greenback on renewed worries about Greece's debt problems. Investors fear reluctance from the European Union's largest economy, Germany, will hinder efforts to alleviate Greece's problems.
Greece will always be over the market until it's rectified in any way, said Peter Costa, president of Empire Executions in New York. Until it's resolved, it's going to be an issue.
Healthcare insurance stocks were among the rare winners on Friday, ahead of an impending congressional vote to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system. The Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor index <.HMO> gained 2.2 percent. The index also got a lift from Aetna Inc
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 37.19 points, or 0.35 percent, to end at 10,741.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> lost 5.93 points, or 0.51 percent, to 1,159.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> shed 16.87 points, or 0.71 percent, to 2,374.41.
For the week, the Dow rose 1.1 percent, the S&P added 0.9 percent and the Nasdaq gained 0.3 percent.
3M Co
Weighing on the Nasdaq was Palm Inc
, which plunged 29.2 percent to $4.00 a day after it warned that quarterly revenues would be far below expectations as low demand for its smartphones left wireless carriers with excess inventory.
SunPower Corp
Volume has been thin during the week and volatility has dropped considerably. The CBOE Volatility Index <.VIX> fell 3.5 percent this week.
Friday marked the second day of a convergence known as quadruple witching, when four types of options and futures contracts expire, triggering volatility and higher volumes.
About 10.03 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, above last year's estimated daily average of 9.65 billion.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a ratio of about 7 to 3. On the Nasdaq, eight stocks fell for every five that rose.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)
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