LONDON: U.S. stocks ended lower Friday, but the Dow industrials and S&P 500 notched a second straight week of gains.
The week’s gains were fueled by a fresh signal from the Federal Reserve that investors needn’t fear a sharp rise in interest rates. The message reassured stock investors, who have enjoyed six years of a bull market in a low-rate environment. San Francisco Fed President John Williams said Friday the central bank should raise interest rates twice this year.
U.S. economic reports this past week also gave credence to that view, suggesting the economy is improving but not fast enough to force the Fed to raise rates quickly. Upbeat reports included a lower-than-expected level of jobless claims.
Meanwhile, worries over Greece sent investors piling into ultrasafe Treasury bonds on Friday, and the bond market capped its biggest one-week price rally in three months.
“For the most part, we still are in an environment where there are these large, thematic risk-on versus risk-off debates when you see interest-rate concerns or macroeconomic issues like Greece,” said Rob Bernstone, managing director of equity trading at Credit Suisse.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 99.89 points, or 0.6%, Friday to 18015.95. The S&P 500 declined 11.25 points, or 0.5%, to 2109.99, and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 15.95 points, or 0.3%, to 5117.00.
