Investing.com – U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday, as a raft of mostly negative U.S. economic data weighed on sentiment while investors digested several key corporate earnings.
The three major U.S. indexes struggled to hold on to gains, as investors mulled over weaker than expected consumer sentiment data while U.S. economic growth slowed in the first quarter of the year.
Gross domestic product grew at a 0.7% annual rate in the first three months of 2017, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, well below the 2.1% growth at the end of last year.
Meanwhile, the University of Michigan reported its Consumer Sentiment Index hit 97 in April, slightly below economists’ expectations for a reading of 98.
In corporate earnings news, Exxon (NYSE:XOM) Mobile and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) posted better than expected earnings for the quarter.
Elsewhere, investors piled into Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft, after the three tech heavyweights topped earnings expectations after the closing bell on Thursday.
Meanwhile, on the geopolitical front, tensions remained, after Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson said on Friday, that the threat of North Korea launching a nuclear attack on its neighbours was "real".
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.19% lower at 20,940. The S&P 500 lost 0.19% and the Nasdaq Composite closed flat at 6047.61. Despite the dip on Friday, all three major U.S. indexes posted a 1% gain for the month.
The ‘Bulls and Bears’ on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers included; Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN) up 8.5%, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) up 5.5%, while Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) added 5.4%.
Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) down 15.8%, Host Hotels & Resorts Inc (NYSE:HST) down 7.4% and KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) down 5.4%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.