Investing.com - U.S. stocks finished Friday lower as investors sold for profits on sentiment that global economic activity doesn't support rising share prices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.02%, the S&P 500 index was down 0.32% while the Nasdaq Composite index finished down 0.43% amid lackluster trading.
Stocks still managed to finish the week in positive territory.
Stocks prices have performed well in 2012, and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said the U.S. Central Bank has no set plans to intervene with measures such as quantitative easing to prop up the economy.
Under quantitative easing, the Fed buys assets like mortgage-backed securities and Treasury bonds from banks with the aim of boosting liquidity, keeping borrowing costs low and sending stock prices rising in hopes investment and more organic growth will follow.
Bernanke told the U.S. Congress that the economy, while far from recovered, is showing signs of improvement, which markets interpreted as a signal that easing remains on hold for now, which was bearish for stocks and bullish for the dollar.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included AT&T, up 0.82%, JPMorgan Chase, up 0.67%, and IMB, up 0.64%.
Leading index losers included American Express, down 1.14%, Caterpillar, down 0.84%, and General Electric, down 0.73%.
European indices were mixed to higher.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.10%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.04%, while Germany's DAX 30 finished down 0.29%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 closed down 0.34%.
On Monday, the U.S. Institute of Supply Management will release its Non-Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.02%, the S&P 500 index was down 0.32% while the Nasdaq Composite index finished down 0.43% amid lackluster trading.
Stocks still managed to finish the week in positive territory.
Stocks prices have performed well in 2012, and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said the U.S. Central Bank has no set plans to intervene with measures such as quantitative easing to prop up the economy.
Under quantitative easing, the Fed buys assets like mortgage-backed securities and Treasury bonds from banks with the aim of boosting liquidity, keeping borrowing costs low and sending stock prices rising in hopes investment and more organic growth will follow.
Bernanke told the U.S. Congress that the economy, while far from recovered, is showing signs of improvement, which markets interpreted as a signal that easing remains on hold for now, which was bearish for stocks and bullish for the dollar.
Leading Dow Jones Industrial Average performers included AT&T, up 0.82%, JPMorgan Chase, up 0.67%, and IMB, up 0.64%.
Leading index losers included American Express, down 1.14%, Caterpillar, down 0.84%, and General Electric, down 0.73%.
European indices were mixed to higher.
After the close of European trade, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.10%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.04%, while Germany's DAX 30 finished down 0.29%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 closed down 0.34%.
On Monday, the U.S. Institute of Supply Management will release its Non-Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index.