World Business

US stocks end lower after volatile session

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-29 10:38

NEW YORK - Wall Street suffered another volatile session and ended modestly lower on Friday, as investors digested a batch of mixed economic data and a downgrade of Spain's debt reignited credit concern.

Major indexes tumbled in afternoon trading after Fitch Ratings cut Spain's credit ratings to AA+ from AAA, saying its economic recovery would be more muted than the government forecast.

Friday's trading had been already choppy before the news as data pained a mixed picture about economic recovery.

According to the Commerce Department, total personal income rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent in April from an upwardly revised 0.4 percent gain in March, while consumer spending was flat in April after six straight monthly increases.

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The income data was basically in line with market expectation, but spending was weaker than the 0.1 percent gain forecast by economists.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management said its Chicago Purchasing Index fell to 59.7 this month after the figure hit a five year high of 63.8 in April. Readings greater than 50 signal expansion.

Apart from that, Survey also showed consumer sentiment rose a bit in May from April but stayed roughly unchanged from levels reported since February, while the one-year inflation expectations climbed to the highest since October 2008.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 122.36, or 1.19 percent, to 10,136.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 13.65, or 1. 24 percent, to 1,089.41 and the Nasdaq was down 20.64, or 0.91 percent, to 2,257.04.