US stocks fell on Friday on weakness in manufacturing and financial stocks after bleak data on consumer confidence and construction, but the Dow still snapped a disastrous three-week losing streak with it best weekly gain in more than 5 years. It was a week marked by extreme volatility, and Friday's trading was no different, with stocks swinging back and forth between positive and negative territory.
A big afternoon rally was snuffed out in the last hour of trading as uncertainty took hold before the weekend. Caterpillar and United Technologies led the Dow lower, after a report that US housing starts, or the construction of new homes, fell to a 17-1/2-year low last month, adding to recession fears.
Also weighing on manufacturers, Honeywell International Inc cut its fourth-quarter profit forecast and said it was bracing for "recessionary conditions" in the United States and Europe next year. Retailers such as Wal-Mart fell after a report on US consumer confidence from Reuters and the University of Michigan showed the steepest monthly drop on record in October.
A rally in energy stocks fizzled late in the day as oil prices settled off their highs for the session. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 127.04 points, or 1.41 percent, to 8,852.22, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 5.88 points, or 0.62 percent, to 940.55. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 6.42 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,711.29.
For the week, the Dow rose 4.8 percent, its best week in 5-1/2 years, while the S&P 500 had its best week since February with a gain of 4.6 percent. The Nasdaq rose 4.1 percent for its best week since early August. The week featured one of Wall Street's best days ever on Monday, followed by it worst day since the 1987 stock market crash on Wednesday.
On Friday, the government's housing report showed permits for new homes sank to a nearly 27-year low in another sign of deterioration in housing. The Dow Jones home construction index lost 2.2 percent. Among manufacturers, Caterpillar fell 7.2 percent to $39.32 and United Technologies dropped 4.1 percent to $50.71. Honeywell shares fell 5 percent to $29.37.
But there was some positive news. Major global money rates fell, supporting the view that central banks have turned the tide in their fight to unlock credit for cash-strapped banks and borrowers. Google shares jumped 5.5 percent to $372.54 after its profits surpassed Wall Street's expectations as the Internet search and advertising company said Web traffic and revenue growth were strong.
Another good sign for technology investors came from microchip maker Advanced Micro Devices, which posted stronger-than-expected results, sending its shares up 2.2 percent to $4.21. In a move that encouraged some investors to scour the market for beaten-down shares on Friday, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, writing in the New York Times, said he is buying US stocks.
Trading was tepid on the New York Stock Exchange, with about 1.74 billion shares changing hands, below last year's estimated daily average of roughly 1.90 billion, while on Nasdaq, about 2.76 billion shares traded, above last year's daily average of 2.17 billion. Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of about 17 to 14. In contrast, on the Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers by about 4 to 3.