Wall Street Sinks, Trims Weekly Gains
FOX Business: Capitalism Lives Here
The markets took a beating on Friday afternoon, cutting down weekly gains, as traders began fretting about the Fed ... again.
Today's Markets
As of 2:00 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 120 points, or 0.77%, to 15616, the S&P 500 slipped 10.4 points, or 0.6%, to 1712 and the Nasdsaq Composite advanced 8.8 points, or 0.23%, to 3781.
The Federal Reserve roiled markets on Wednesday by holding off on scaling back its massive bond-buying program. Stocks surged, Treasury yields dipped, gold rallied. That enthusiasm is finally waning, but it's left the Dow and S&P up significantly for the week, and right near record highs.
The economic calendar is bare on the day. However, an event referred to as "quadruple witching," where several varieties of derivatives contracts expire could spark higher-than-usual volumes. In fact, the New York Stock Exchange sent out a note to traders saying it expects "increased market activity at the close" and will hold a special call to keep market participants updated.
On the corporate front, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched its newest suite of iPhones across the world on the day. It's the first time the struggling tech giant has simultaneously released phones in the U.S. and China -- the world's two biggest economies. Brian White, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, reckons Apple could sell between 6 and 6.5 million iPhones this weekend.
Goodyear Tire (NYSE:GT) declared a quarterly dividend of five cents a share and reaffirmed its full-year outlook.
In commodities, U.S. crude oil prices fell 73 cents, or 0.69%, to $105.66 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline rose 0.15% to $2.701 a gallon. Gold slid $14.70, or 1.1%, to $1,354 a troy once.
Foreign Markets
The Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.03% to 2937, the English FTSE 100 fell 0.06% to 6621 and the German DAX advanced 0.09% to 8702.
In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 dipped 0.16% to 14742 and the Chinese Hang Seng soared 1.7% to 23503.