(MENAFN- AFP) Wall Street stocks Friday finished a volatile week sharply lower following a disappointing US economic growth report and worrisome data on eurozone inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 251.90 points (1.45 percent) to 17,164.95.
The broad-based S&P 500 sank 26.26 (1.30 percent) to 1,994.99, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 48.17 (1.03 percent) to 4,635.24.
US economic growth came in at an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter, well below the 5.0 percent in the prior quarter, according to Commerce Department data.
Analysts also pointed to the drag from a eurozone inflation report, which showed consumer prices fell by a record 0.6 percent in January, raising fears that deflation is taking hold in the region.
A busy week of corporate earnings produced mixed results, with some companies pointing to the drag from the strong dollar.
"The market is pretty cautious," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. "We came into this earnings season with expectations for more than we're getting."
Amazon bolted 13.7 percent higher after it posted a fourth-quarter profit of $214 million after two straight quarters of losses. The online retailer has faced pressure from shareholders criticizing its big growth-oriented investment strategy.
Google jumped 4.7 percent after fourth-quarter net income rose 40.9 percent to $4.8 billion. That translated into $6.88 per share, below the $7.11 estimated by Wall Street analysts. Cantor Fitzgerald said the tech giant scored "healthy growth" in online advertising revenues.
Chevron fell 0.5 percent as it became the latest petroleum company to cut spending in response to lower oil prices. Chevron trimmed $5 billion from its investment program and said it would suspend its share repurchase program.
Many petroleum-linked companies rose with Friday's gain in oil prices. Apache added 2.2 percent, drilling company Transocean jumped 3.5 percent and oil-services giant Schlumberger advanced 0.6 percent.
Biotech company Biogen surged 10.2 percent as it reported that fourth-quarter net income nearly doubled to $883.5 million.
The hamburger chain Shake Shack soared 118.6 percent in its first day of trade after raising $105 million in an initial public offering.
Bond prices jumped. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 1.65 percent from 1.76 percent Thursday, while the 30-year dropped to 2.23 percent from 2.32 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
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