US stocks edged lower on Friday and were on track to book declines for the week, weighed down by financial and industrial sectors. Wall Street has been trading in a tight range in the past two weeks, with the S&P 500 not moving more than 0.4 percent in either direction and VIX, the fear gauge, hovering near two-decade lows. "It is notable that no matter what happens on the news, that might have otherwise resulted in some fear factor, has not really affected the market," said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments.
"I think complacency is a big part of that." A risk-off sentiment has dominated trading this week after President Donald Trump unexpectedly fired his FBI chief, the potential fallout of which could delay Trump's pro-growth policy. Gold prices rose by the most in one month, while the dollar fell for the second straight day. At 11:06 am ET (1506 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 29.34 points, or 0.14 percent, at 20,890.08, the S&P 500 was down 5.22 points, or 0.22 percent, at 2,389.22 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 3.35 points, or 0.05 percent, at 6,112.61.
Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, led by financials and industrials. Retail stocks were under pressure after J.C. Penney reported lower-than-expected comparable store sales, sending its shares down nearly 10 percent. GE was the top percentage loser on the Dow, down 2.7 percent after Deustche Bank downgraded its shares to "sell" from "hold".