U.S. Stocks End On Mixed Note; Major Averages Post Sharp Losses For The Quarter

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks turned weak after a firm start on Friday, and among the major averages, the Nasdaq managed to settle slightly higher, while the Dow and the S&P 500 ended on a negative note.

Concerns over the prospect of a government shutdown, and the outlook about interest rates rendered the mood cautious, prompting investors to lighten commitments.

Activity was mostly stock specific with earnings updates and other corporate news providing some direction.

The Dow, which rose to 33,893.68 in early trades, ended the day's session at 33,507.50, losing 158.84 points or 0.47 percent. The S&P 500 ended down 11.65 points or 0.27 percent at 4,288.05, while the Nasdaq settled at 13,219.32, gaining 18.05 points or 0.14 percent.

The Dow shed about 2.7 percent in the third quarter, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted quarterly losses of 3.7 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.

Nike climbed nearly 7 percent after the company reported a first-quarter bottomline of $1.45 billion, or $0.94 per share, compared with $1.47 billion, or $0.93 per share in last year's first quarter.

Carnival shares dropped about 5 percent with cost pressures outweighing the company's upbeat forecast.

Travelers Companies, JP Morgan, General Electric, Walmart, Hewlett Packard, Honeywell International, Caterpillar, Merck and Chevron shed 1 to 3 percent.

Wallgreens Boots Alliance surged nearly 6 percent. Micron Technology, Pfizer, Accenture, Tesla, Intel, Walt Disney, Microsoft and Nvidia posted sharp to moderate gains.

In economic news, a report released by the Commerce Department showed personal income in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of August, climbing by 0.4 percent after rising by 0.2 percent in July.

The Commerce Department said personal spending also increased by 0.4 percent in August after jumping by an upwardly revised 0.9 percent in July.

Economists had expected personal spending to rise by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.8 percent advance originally reported for the previous month.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth accelerated to 3.5 percent in August from 3.4 percent in July. The modest acceleration matched economist estimates.

Meanwhile, the annual rate of growth by core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, slowed to 3.9 percent in August from 4.3 percent in July. The slowdown also matched expectations.

A report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said the Chicago Business Barometer (Chicago PMI) fell to 44.1 in September, from 48.7 in August, contracting for the 13th consecutive month.

The University of Michigan said in its report that the consumer sentiment in the U.S. was revised higher to 68.1 in September from a preliminary 67.7.

In overseas trading, Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Friday, with Hong Kong leading regional gains. Trading volumes were thin due to holidays in mainland China and South Korea.

Underlying sentiment was underpinned by a fall in oil prices and declining bond yields ahead of key U.S. inflation data due later in the day.

European stocks closed broadly higher on Friday, but most of the markets in the region still posted sharp losses for the July - September quarter.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.38 percent. Germany's DAX climbed 0.41 percent, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.26 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.08 percent.

Data showing a bigger than expected drop in Eurozone's annual inflation, and the British economy grew stronger than expected in the first quarter, helped underpin sentiment.