Stocks finished the week on a sour note with the Dow dropping around 450 points on the day. Weakness in the bond markets along with some lingering uncertainty about upcoming trade talks between China and the U.S. next week left traders feeling a bit cautious.
The Nasdaq fell 196 points, while the S&P 500 dropped 54.
Small-company stocks fell more than the rest of the market as traders offloaded risker assets.
Today’s sell-off came despite some relatively positive economic data. The National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales rebounded strongly in February. Sales were up 11.8 percent compared to 1 drop of 1.4 percent the previous month.
Meanwhile the Commerce Department released a report showing that wholesale inventories surged more than expected – they were up by 1.2 percent in January.
Shares of Nike fell today even as the athletic apparel giant’s third quarter results topped estimates and revenues fell in line with expectations. Nike shares fell about 6 percent today.
In the oil markets WTI oil for May fell 94 cents to settle at 59.04 a barrel. On the week, crude was 0.4% higher.