NEW YORK — U.S. stocks tumbled Friday, with reports of a criminal probe into Goldman Sachs Group and some disappointing tech earnings dragging the major indexes to their worst week since January.
For the month, the major indexes posted solid gains.
For Friday’s session, the Dow Jones industrial average ended near its session lows, off 158.71 points, or 1.4 percent, to 11,008.61. All 30 of its components fell, including declines of more than 3 percent each in JPMorgan Chase, Caterpillar, American Express and General Electric.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which isn’t a Dow component, slid 9.4 percent. It ended with a 14.9 percent decline for April, its worst monthly drop since the fall of 2008.
Friday’s loss helped push stocks to weekly losses. The Dow ended down 1.8 percent, breaking a string of eight weekly gains. The S&P 500 fell 2.5 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.7 percent for the week.
April was kind for the market overall, with major indexes posting their third-straight monthly gain. A generally favorable round of first-quarter profit reports was the major catalyst for the gains, but looking ahead, some traders fear that widening regulatory scrutiny of Wall Street could continue to weigh on the market.
“The market more or less shook off the civil fraud charges against Goldman earlier in the month,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank. “But as you get a criminal investigation, it begins to feel more like a witch hunt, and witch hunts tend not to end well for these firms.”
The S&P 500 on Friday fell 1.7 percent to 1,186.69, up 1.5 percent for April. Its financial sector fell 2.5 percent, leading a decline that hit every sector except utilities.
The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2 percent to 2,461.19, up 2.6 percent for the month. It was hurt Friday by weak earnings from technology firms.
The University of Michigan/Reuters consumer-sentiment index’s final reading for April fell to 72.2, from a final March reading of 73.6.
