US stocks end week lower as market eyes earnings
Saturday, 12 July 2014
US stocks retreated this week following a light calendar of economic news punctuated by a brief mid-week swoon over troubles at a leading Portuguese bank. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 124.45 points (0.73 per cent) to 16,943.81 points. The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 17.87 (0.90 per cent) to 1,967.57, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 70.44 (1.57 per cent) at 4,415.49. Investors pored over minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s June policy meeting released on Wednesday that disclosed the central bank plans to end its bond-buying stimulus programme in October. Equities scored modest gains on Friday, partially offsetting the losses from the prior day when worries about Portugal’s banking system rocked the market. But Friday’s increases were not enough to offset earlier losses, according to AFP.