DOW

Dow

10,913.38

-240.60

-2.16%

YF News Market Update

4:30 pm : A weak performance on Friday resulted in another weekly loss for stocks -- their eighth in 10 weeks of trade. Such an extensive stretch of weakness has left the stock market to log a monthly loss of 7% and a quarterly loss of more than 14%.

Trade on Friday was spent entirely in negative territory. Participants turned to selling after watching markets overseas slide. Trade in Europe, which has influenced sentiment at home for weeks, saw Britian's FTSE fall 1.3%, France's CAC close 1.5% lower, and Germany's DAX drop 2.4% after a 3.0% jump in Eurozone CPI dampened hope for a rate cut by the European Central Bank. Overnight action in Asia saw Hong Kong's Hang Seng slide 2.7%, China's Shanghai Composite slip 0.3%, and Japan's Nikkei finish flat. China's HSBC Manufacturing PMI for September stayed below 50, the dividing line between contraction and expansion, for the third straight month, making some question the country's ability to sustain growth in the face of sluggish global conditions.

The inclination to sell trumped a couple of better-than-expected domestic reports. The Chicago PMI for August bested the Briefing.com consensus call of 54.0 by improving to 60.4 from 56.5 in July. The final September reading on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan was revised upward to 59.4 from the preliminary reading of 57.8. A reading of 57.5 had been expected.

Personal income and spending numbers for August were less impressive. Income declined by 0.1% while spending increased by 0.2%. Income failed to meet the 0.1% increase expected, on average, by economists polled by Briefing.com, but the increase in spending was exactly in line with what had been expected.