Stock losses pile up; worst weekly start to a year ever
U.S. stocks fell sharply on Friday, extending losses that had the S&P 500 recording its worst ever five-day start to a year, as the falling price of crude hit energy shares, offsetting enthusiasm that came with a better-than-expected December jobs report.
Investors have been spooked by China's slowing economy and markets, with trading in China halted twice this week before regulators suspended circuit breakers. European shares marked their worst week in more than four years as China moved to steady its currency and calm skittish markets.
"We were doing well on the fact that overseas hadn't collapsed, and the jobs report added to the gains," said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade.
After a triple-digit pop, major indexes lost steam, with energy shares falling along with the price of oil, which fell 10 percent this week and is down 70 percent from the middle of 2014.
Down more than 6 percent for the week, the Dow industrials (DJI) fell 168 points, or 1 percent, at 16,346, with Cisco (CSCO) leading declines that included 28 of 30 components. The S&P 500 index (SPX) dropped 21 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,922, leaving it with a weekly loss of 6 percent. The Nasdaq Composite (COMP) shed 46 points, or 1 percent, to 4,644.
Shares of Twitter (TWTR) fell to a record below $20, while Apple halted a three-day losing run.
Gap (GPS) plunged after the clothing retailer reported a bigger-than-expected decline in December sale-store sales.
Container Store (TCS) lid a day after reporting a fourth-quarter profit below estimates.
The U.S. added 292,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5 percent, the Labor Department said Friday.
Most economists had forecast gains of 200,000 jobs and an unchanged unemployment rate.