NEW YORK: US stocks Friday finished with modest declines as investors shrugged off a drop in sale of existing homes as weather-related.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 30.70 points (0.19 percent) to 16,102.53.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 3.55 (0.19 percent) to 1,836.23, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 4.13 (0.10 percent) to 4,263.41.
Sales of used homes fell 5.1 percent in January to an annual pace of 4.62 million units, down from the rate of 4.87 million in December, according to the National Association of Realtors.
But investors have given less weight to weak data due to severe winter weather that has depressed activity in much of the United States, said Bill Lynch, director of investment at Hinsdale Associates.
"Because of the extreme weather across the country, they're willing to give the economic data a pass, at least for now," Lynch said.
"The market is just consolidating those gains from last week and waiting for something in terms of direction," he said.
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