Stock indexes log worst Thanksgiving week since 2011-all three cases at least 3.5%
U.S. Stocks closed lower Friday, pressured again by falling oil prices, which drove the indexes to weekly loses or more than 3.5% -the second straight week of declines.
The New York Stock Exchange closed at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, while other financial markets also saw earlier closures on Black Friday.
How did the benchmarks perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, -0.73%
fell 1[ads1]78.74 points, or 0.7%, to 24.285.95, the S & P 500 index
SPX, -0.66%
off 17.37 points, or 0.7%, at 2.632.56, while the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP, -0.48%
retreated 33.27 points to 6.938.98, a decline of 0.5%.
Read: Why share buybacks are not the stock market's safety net
For the week, the Nasdaq tumbled 4.3%, the Dow ended the week 4.4% lower, while the S & P 500 notched a week-on-week decline or 3.8%.
According to Dow Jones Market Data, this week's performances for all three major indexes marks their worst Thanksgiving weeks since 2011.
What's drove the market?
Crude Oil's Bear Market Worsened Friday, as investors struggled with growing output from the U.S., President Donald Trump's entrants to key producers to keep prices lower, and generally rising inventories, despite a recent cold snap in many oil-consuming regions. The slide in oil prices weighed heavily on energy stocks, as 9 of the 10 of the biggest losers in the S & P 500 Friday, from shares of companies with links to the energy complex.
Read: A death cross is forming in U.S. oil, underlining the unraveling of crude prices
Investors also keyed in developments in European politics, after the U.K. and European Union both announced progress on Thursday in the outlining of their future relationship after Britain exits the EU.
In Asia, markets faced severe pressure that rippled onto U.S. shores, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. China's Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (19659002), reported that China's T-government has been accused of alleged abuse of intellectual property rights and espionage by Chinese tech companies.
President Xi Jinping and Trump are scheduled to meet in Buenos Aires on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit next week.
On the bright side, the holiday shopping season appears to be off to a good start, after a report from Adobe Analytics showed that Thanksgiving online shopping rose 28.6% from last year, data that boosted some retailers during trade Friday. [19659003] What are Strategians Saying?
While falling oil prices are causing investors to worry about the slowing global economy, it's the rise in the US Dollar-resulting from an overseas slowdown-that will have the most direct impact on S & P 500 earnings, Jeff Kravetz, Regional Investment Director at U.S. Bank Customs MarketWatch.
"Dollar strength could be a serious headwind for earnings going forward," he said, because much of S & P 500 companies' sales growth is derived abroad.
"It's another down day, which is about," Karyn Cavanaugh, senior market strategist at Voya, told MarketWatch. "The market continues to be worried about slowing global growth," she said, adding that today's drop in oil prices reinforces this fear.
"Investors are worried because the last time we saw oil really plummeted back in 2015, we also saw a serious slowdown in global growth," Cavanaugh said.
"But there's a real disconnect between market sentiment and the actual economy." She argued, which puts markets in a position to have a significant 'Santa Clause' rally, as she expects sales figures to continue to show that "consumers are healthy and they are out there spending money. "
What stocks were in focus?
Shares of retailers Macy's Inc .
M, -1.78%
Target Corp. .
TGT, -2.76%
and Best Buy Co Inc .
BBY, + 0.74%
are in focus as Black Friday sales kickoff. Macy's stock fell 1.8%, while Target shares were down 2.8%, and Best Buy stock was up roughly 0.7%.
Retail trade was one of the Dow's bright spots Friday, after data from Adobe Analytics showed strong growth in online shopping Thanksgiving Day. Walmart Inc .
WMT, + 0.99%
shares rose 1% Friday, while Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc .
WBA, + 1.32%
stock advanced 1.3%.
Shares of energy-related companies were under pressure Friday, as the price of oil was down 6% on the day and more than 21% in November, so far. Marathon Oil Corp. .
MRO, -4.63%
shares fell 4.6%, TechnipFMC Plc
FTI, -4.19%
stock retreated 4.2%, Devon Energy Corp .
DVN, -5.68%
stock fell 5.7%, and shares of Concho Resources Inc. .
CXO, -6.31%
shed 6.3%.
Rockwell Collins
COL, + 9.21%
shares rallied 9.2% Friday, after Reuters reported that Chinese market regulator has given conditional approval to United Technologies Corp. .
UTX, + 2.65%
takeover bid.
Which data were in focus?
The Markit flash reading on manufacturing PMI fell to 55.4 in November, a three-month low.
How did other markets trade?
Chinese stocks fell Friday, with the Shanghai Composite
SHCOMP, -2.49%
down 2.5%, while the smaller Shenzhen Composite
399106, -3.66%
tumbled 3.6%. Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.
In Europe, stocks ended the trading day mixed, with the Stoxx Europe 600
SXXP, + 0.40%
edging up 0.4%, and the FTSE 100
UKX, -0.11%
down 0.1%.
Crude oil
CLF9, -7.56%
added to its November woes, falling 6% Friday, while gold
GCZ8, -0.36%
was off 0.4%, and the U.S. dollar
DXY, + 0.48%
edged up 0.2%.
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