Stocks Record Weakest Week In Month Despite Friday Rally

Stocks recorded the most losses in a month last week. The S&P 500 gave up 1.4 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial average dropped one percent and the Nasdaq fell 1.6 percent.

Daily Change

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 167.4 points, or 0.99 percent to close at 17,113.
• The S&P 500 added 16.9 points, or 0.86 percent to close at 1,983.
• The Nasdaq climbed 45.5 points, or 1.02 percent to close at 4,512.

Top Stories

The final estimate of second quarter GDP is 4.6 percent. This is an increase from the second reading of 4.2 percent and the first quarter’s sharp 2.1 percent decline.

Bill Gross, founder of PIMCO, is leaving his company to join Jana Capital. The announcement follows a record amount of capital leaving the firm last year and conflict with other managers. Gross said, “I look forward to returning my full focus to the fixed income markets and investing, giving up many of the complexities that go with managing a large, complicated organization.”

Yahoo YHOO and AOL AOL shares spiked higher after activist hedge fund Starboard said it would push for Yahoo to acquire AOL and sell its non-core assets. According to Starboard, the deal could create over $1 billion in synergies.

Stock Movers

Shares of Nike NKE got a boost, shooting up 12.2 percent to $89.50 after the company reported stronger-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results. Analysts at Bank of America and Janney Capital released positive notes on the company.

Micron Technology MU shares were also up, gaining 6.7 percent to $33.83 after the company posted better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results and issued a strong revenue forecast for the fiscal first quarter.

Shares of Finish Line FINL were down 14.6 percent to $25.11 after the company reported downbeat second-quarter results.

Powell Industries POWL shares tumbled 8.4 percent to $45.54 after the company lowered its FY14 outlook.

Philip Morris International PM was down, falling 0.6 percent to $83.23. Analysts at Bank of America downgraded Philip Morris International from Buy to Neutral and lowered the target price to $87.

Commodities

Gold have been trading in a tight range ($1,210 to $1,230) for the past several sessions. The commodity sold off after reaching the top of the range Friday, closing down 0.4 percent at $1,216.27

After a bounce higher Thursday, crude oil is once again within one percent of making a new low. Contracts fell 0.21 percent to $91.35 on the session.

Global markets

Asian markets ended the week mixed. The Shanghai index rose 0.11 percent with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 0.38 percent. Japan’s Nikkei gave up 0.88 percent on the session.

Europe, on the other hand, moved higher. The Euro Stoxx index, which tracks 50 blue chips rose 0.54 percent, London’s FTSE added 0.15 percent and France’s CAC gained 0.91 percent.

Currencies

The dollar made another new high Friday after gained 0.51 percent to 85.63 on the US Dollar Index. The greenback is the strongest it has been since 2010 and is within five percent of an eight year high.