NEW YORK — U.S. stock indexes declined Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average halting its longest weekly winning streak since August of last year.
“It’s difficult to attach a great deal of meaning to today’s action without volume, which is lackluster. We’ve tried to make the stories fit the market action, and that’s a dangerous game, especially in low volume,” said Art Hogan, market strategist at Lazard Capital Markets.
“We certainly came into a week we knew was wanting for catalysts. Last week we had a plethora of economic data and a preponderance of quarterly reports; this week we have neither,” he added.
The Dow Jones industrial average halted a six-week winning stretch, its longest since one that ended Aug. 17, 2012. It declined as many as 152 points Friday, but ended with a loss of 72.81 points, or 0.5 percent, at 15,425.51, leaving it down 1.5 percent on the week.
After rising to a session high of 1,699.42, the S&P 500 index fell 6.06 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,691.42, off 1.1 percent for the week, with telecommunications leading sector declines and materials faring the best.
“We’ve seen another attempt at taking that 1,700 level and failed, which may have fueled some technical selling. Those that watch from a technical basis think that’s significant,” Hogan said.
The S&P 500 index last Friday closed at a record 1,709.67, a day after finishing above 1,700 for the first time. It’s up nearly 19 percent for the year.
“This week, we’re only setting records for our lack of volume,” said Hogan, who noted that Monday marked the lowest full-day volume in 12 months.
The Nasdaq Composite shed 9.02 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,660.11 and off 0.8 percent from the week-ago close.
Decliners ran slightly ahead of advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where nearly 634 million shares traded. Composite volume surpassed 2.9 billion.
Wholesale inventories fell 0.2 percent in June after declining 0.6 percent in May, the Commerce Department reported.
Of the 446 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results for the second quarter of 2013, 67 percent have beaten earnings expectations, while 54 percent reported revenue above estimates, according to Thomson Reuters analyst Greg Harrison.
In the coming week, 13 S&P 500 companies are expected to report quarterly earnings, with Dow components Cisco Systems Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. among them.
