MW: U.S. stocks retain stiff losses as home-sales dip
By Kate Gibson
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks remained sharply lower Friday after a trade group reported sales of existing homes fell 1.7% in September, with the decline in line with expectations. But as with Thursday, Wall Street is largely bypassing economic reports to fixate on third-quarter corporate results. "We're still focusing all of our attention on earnings," said Chip Cobb, senior vice president at BMT Asset Management. The major indexes were at or near session lows, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -0.75% down 96.5 points, or 0.7%, at 13,452.44. The S&P 500 index SPX -0.60% declined 7.67 points, or 0.5%, to 1,449.67. The Nasdaq Composite COMP -0.73% retreated 21.18 points, or 0.7%, to 3,051.63.
