MW: U.S. stocks extend weekly loss after housing data
By Laura Mandaro, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks fell Friday after data on sales of newly constructed U.S. homes registered a surprise drop in February.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +0.22% fell 29.89 points, or 0.2%, to 13,016.28. The S&P 500 SPX +0.18% lost 4.12 points, or 0.3%, to 1,388.73. The Nasdaq Composite COMP -0.15% fell 14.54 points, or 0.5%, to 3,049.02.
Midmorning, the Commerce Department said sales of new homes dipped 1.6% in February to a seasonally adjusted 313,000, from a slightly downwardly revised 318,000 in January. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected improving sales, at a 330,000 annual rate. Read more on new home sales.
Stocks had wavered around the flat line ahead of the data, with drags coming from data earlier in the week illustrating slowdowns in China and Europe.
A lower close for the Dow and S&P 500 would cap the indexes’ fourth straight loss and push weekly declines, of 1.6% and 1.1%, respectively, to their worst since mid-December.
Still, key stock indexes are up between 7% and 17% this year, a heady move that had prompted strategists in recent weeks to say a correction was likely.
“Global confidence has pulled back somewhat this week, led by disappointing global PMI numbers,” wrote analysts at Barclays Capital.
Purchasing-manager indexes in China and Europe that showed business activity in contraction weighed on commodities and global stocks this week.
“But we do not think these indicators necessarily signal the end of the risk asset rally. We do not expect a sustained correction and recommend repositioning portfolios toward assets that should benefit from a U.S.-led recovery,” Barclays added.
