US Stocks Fall Friday But Eke Out Small Weekly Gains




Worries about the potential impact of oil's climb above $100 a barrel sent U.S. stocks lower Friday, but came short of wiping out gains recorded earlier in the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 88.32 points, or 0.72%, to 12169.88, halting a two-day advance. Leading the drop, General Electric fell 1.8%, while Hewlett-Packard shed 1.4% and American Express declined 1.3%.

The Nasdaq Composite declined 14.07, or 0.50%, to 2784.67. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 9.82, or 0.74%, to 1321.15, with all its sectors in negative territory. The financial and industrial sectors posted the biggest drop.

Still, the measures managed to post modest weekly gains, with the Dow rising 0.33% on the week while the S&P 500 edged up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.13%, thanks to gains posted earlier in the week.

Friday's declines in U.S. stocks came as crude-oil futures topped $104 a barrel.

"The problem with higher oil prices is that it acts as an indirect tax on consumers and businesses," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital. He noted that the rise in oil prices comes just as investors are also beginning to wonder how the economy will perform after the Federal Reserve winds down its stimulus program in June.

Sarhan added, "what we're seeing now is a confluence of two factors: Can the economy continue growing without the Fed's help, and how will the economy continue to grow if oil spikes higher?"

The rally in oil prices followed sporadic violence in Libya's capital, as a heavy clampdown on the city by Col. Moammar Gadhafi spread fear among residents. Meanwhile, more than 100,000 protesters gathered in the Bahraini capital, and Yemeni soldiers fired rockets on protesters in the restive northern province of Amran, killing three people and injuring seven others.

The escalating violence added to investors' worries heading into the weekend.

"There's concern going into a weekend with all that's going on in North Africa and the Middle East," said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of the equity strategy group at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management. "We're probably going to have to get used to these Fridays where maybe the market sells off a bit in reaction to the fact that in two days a lot can happen."

Investors were uninspired by government data showing nonfarm payrolls rose by 192,000 last month while the unemployment rate fell to 8.9%, the first time it has slipped below 9% since April 2009. The data also showed average hourly earnings of all employees increased by a penny to $22.87.

Traders said the market would have needed a stronger employment report in order to outweigh investors' concerns about rising energy prices.

Among stocks in focus, Marvell Technology tumbled 11%. The chip maker's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose 8.8% but came in at the low end of the company's projections, and it forecast disappointing first-quarter results on weakness in the mobile and wireless markets.

Citigroup slipped 3%, and Goldman Sachs Group shed 2.1%, after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded its investment ratings on the stocks to "neutral" from "buy." The firm cited expected weakness in first-quarter results from the two banks.