Wall Street fell Friday as a combination of weak economic data from China and disappointing earnings hurt technology and internet companies. Crude oil prices fell for the 10th day in a row.
US crude oil slipped 0.8 per cent to extend its losing streak. It’s fallen for five weeks in a row and tumbled 21 per cent since Oct. 3. Energy companies have suffered steep losses during that time.
The S&P 500 index dropped 25.82 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 2,781.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 201.92 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 25,989.30.
The Nasdaq composite sank 123.98 points, or 1.6 per cent, to 7,406.90. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gave up 28.72 points, or 1.8 per cent, to 1,549.49, reports AP.
The Labour Department said wholesale prices in the US jumped. Wholesale prices rose by the most in six years in October as gas, food, and chemical prices increased.
Video game maker Activision Blizzard tumbled. The stock fell 12.4 per cent to $55.01, and Electronic Arts lost 5.3 per cent to $88.89.
Major technology and internet companies also turned lower. Apple fell 1.9 per cent to $204.47 and Facebook shed 2.0 per cent to $144.96. Amazon lost 2.4 per cent to $1,712.43.
Benchmark US crude fell to $60.19 a barrel in New York, its lowest in almost eight months.
Brent crude, used to price international oils, has fared almost as badly as US crude, and it declined 0.7 per cent to $70.20 a barrel in London.
General Electric sank another 5.7 per cent to $8.58.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.18 per cent from 3.23 per cent.
Despite the losses Friday, the S&P 500 still gained 2.1 per cent this week. It climbed 2.4 per cent last week but would need to rise another 5.4 per cent to reach the all-time high it set on Sept. 20.
Gold fell 0.3 per cent to $1,208.60 an ounce. Silver lost 2 per cent to $14.14 an ounce. Copper slid 1.9 per cent to $2.68 a pound.
The dollar slipped to 113.76 yen from 113.99 yen. The euro fell to $1.1333 from $1.1356.
The French CAC 40 and the FTSE 100 in Britain both fell 0.5 per cent. Germany’s DAX was little changed.
