U.S. Stock Market Round-Up

New York, NY, United States (AHN) – U.S. markets finished the week lower as investors sold stocks as economic sentiment in July slid and June retail sales fell short.

U.S. Stock Market Round-Up

Early in the week the Commerce Department said retail sales fell 0.5 percent in June, a much larger decline than the 0.2 percent expected by economists. The decline follows a 1.1 percent drop in May.

A slew of economic data followed, with industrial production showing a 0.1 percent rise in June, following the 1.3 percent jump in May. Capacity utilization held steady as factories ran processes at a 74.1 percent rate. Both numbers were roughly in-line with estimates.

The week did end with some disappointing data as the Michigan Sentiment Survey came in at 66.45 in July, well short of the 74.5 expected and down from the 76 posted in June. Sentiment sagged as more Americans worry about the state of the U.S. labor market.

The news sparked a large sell-off in the markets Friday to push the S&P 500 1.2 percent lower for the week. Eight of 10 major economic sectors finished the week with a loss.

Financials were the biggest laggard, down 2.9 percent on the week, with industrials following, down 1.9 percent.

Elsewhere, several large U.S. corporations reported second quarter earnings, with most topping expectations. Alcoa (NYSE: AA) kicked off earnings season on Monday posting a 22 percent rise in revenue, which led to profit of 13 cents a share.

Several banking names also reported quarterly results, with Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) posting better than expected earnings.

Earnings reports are set to ramp up further next week with Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), IBM (NSDQ: IBM), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) all set to release results.

Monday’s market will see the release of the National Homebuilders Association Index for July at 10 a.m. EST.