U.S. Stocks Finish Lower On Euro Zone Debt Concerns

U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday, after a series of negative headlines in Europe unnerved investors. Adding to the downside was a mixed day of corporate earnings.

Following today's conclusion of the Eurogroup meeting, it was announced, as expected, that Spain's bank bail-out was approved. This, however, was overshadowed by other, negative headlines out of Europe.

Adding downside impetus, Spain's Valencia region announced that it plans to seek government help to refinance its debt while Spain issued a downward revision to its growth expectations. Spain now expects gross domestic product to contract 0.5% in 2013, compared with a previous estimate of 0.2% growth.

On the NYSE decliners outnumbered gainers by more than two to one. Today's earnings were mixed, and many of the big stock movers on the market were earnings driven. For example, Sandisk (SNDK) shares surged following its Q2 beat, while Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) beat on EPS, but missed on revs, and shares plunged.

Crude-oil futures closed lower Friday. Crude for August delivery $1.22, or 1.3%, to $91.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On the week, oil gained 4.9%. Gold for August delivery advanced $2.40, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,582.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Here's where the markets stood at mid-day:

US MARKETS

NYSE Composite Index down 84.48 points (-1.08%) at 7,765.27

Dow Jones Industrial Index down 126.12 points (-0.97%) at 12,817.24

S&P 500 down 13.92 points (-1.01%) at 1,362.58997

Nasdaq Composite Index down 38.32 points (-1.29%) at 2,927.53

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

FTSE 100 down 59.68 (-1.0%) to 5,654.62

DAX down 124.57 (-1.8%) to 6,633.25

CAC 40 down 65.79 (-2.0%) to 3,197.85

Nikkei 225 down 125.68 (-1.4%) to 8,669.87

Hang Seng Index up 81.75 (+0.42%) to 19,640.80

Shanghai China Composite Index down 16.20 (-0.7%) to 2,168.64

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) FSBI, Announces Entered Merger Agreement with WesBanco.

(+) AONE, Will Supply a 2MW grid energy storage system to Ray Power Systems

(+) DOLE, Q2 EPS Above, Revs Below, Analyst Forecasts

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) LNET, Reports Q2 Loss

(-) CPHD , Reports Q2 EPS In-Line with Analyst Estimate, Revs Below

(-) MIG, Forecasts a Q2 Loss of $0.15-$0.16 Per Share