(MENAFN- Saudi Press Agency) NEW YORK Rabi'I 7 1437 Dec 18 2015 SPA -- U.S. stocks moved lower in early trading Friday as investors continued to worry about global economic growth.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 170 or 1 percent to 17325. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 16 or 0.8 percent to 2025. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index declined 27 or 0.6 percent to 4975.
Utilities stocks dropped the most a day after turning in the best performance in the market. The only stocks trading higher were mining and metals companies which declined a day earlier. Mining stocks recovered along with the prices of gold and copper.
In earnings news strong results lifted shares of open-source software company RedHat and smartphone maker BlackBerry. RedHat gained $4.11 or 5.2 percent to $82.97 and BlackBerry rose 73 cents or 9.4 percent to $8.53.
Overseas The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.7 percent and France's CAC 40 fell 1.5 percent. Germany's DAX was 1.7 percent lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 sank 1.9 percent and South Korea's Kospi slipped 0.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished 0.5 percent lower.
The dollar gained ground against other major world currencies. Light sweet crude oil for January delivery increased 5 cents to $36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange while gold futures added $14.60 to $1064.00 an ounce.
--SPA
21:05 LOCAL TIME 18:05 GMT
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.