A broad-based selloff dropped stocks for sharp losses on Friday, but the stock market managed to preserve an impressive weekly gain.
Earlier this week stocks recorded one of their best single-session surges in years amid news that the European Union and International Monetary Fund pledged to provide support to eurozone countries with tenuous fiscal conditions. However, concerns regarding the ease in which funds can be disbursed to needy countries and whether countries in trouble can successfully execute austerity measures. Those concerns undermined Europe's bourses, such that Germany's DAX dropped 3.1%, Britain's FTSE fell 3.1%, and France's CAC dove 4.6%. Weakness in the French index was exacerbated by chatter that France could lose its AAA rating.
Caution surrounding the state of finances in Europe triggered renewed selling against the euro, which fell roughly 1.3% to a new one-year low of 1.2359 per dollar. That helped the Dollar Index ascend to a fresh 52-week high; it closed near that mark with a 0.9% gain.
Strength in the greenback was augmented by the many that sought safety as an element of uncertainty crept back into the macro picture. Such uncertainty prompted participants to sell stocks en masse. As such, nearly 98% of the names in the S&P 500 logged losses and all 30 Dow components dropped into the red.
Of the major sectors, weakness was most pronounced among financial issues -- the sector fell 2.7%. Visa (V 77.26, -8.47) and MasterCard (MA 212.45, -19.86) were key laggards after the Senate approved to adopt an amendment on interchange fees on debit transactions.
Utilities stocks suffered the smallest loss, but the sector still shed 0.8%.
As a result of such steep and broad-based losses, the Volatility Index closed nearly 18% higher. Though it is down approximately 25% from the 52-week high that it set last week, it is still up nearly 100% from the 52-week low that it recorded in mid-April.
Gold garnered support amid the increased volatility. In fact, the safety play climbed to a record high of almost $1250 per ounce ahead of the opening bell. However, it gave up its gain to finish pit trade with a fractional loss at $1227.80 per ounce.
Treasuries attracted plenty of support amid the stock market's tumble. As such, the benchmark 10-year Note closed roughly 20 ticks higher. That dropped its yield toward 3.45%.
Though safe havens were the strongest performers this session, the stock market was still able to close with a weekly gain of more than 2%. That follows two straight weekly losses.
As an aside, advance retail sales for April increased 0.4%, which is stronger than the expected increase of 0.2%. Retail sales less autos increased 0.4%, which is a bit less than the expected increase of 0.5%.
The preliminary May Consumer Sentiment Survey from the University of Michigan came in at 73.3, which is slightly below the 73.5 that had been expected, but it is still up from the prior reading of 72.2.
Advancing Sectors: (None)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-2.7%), Materials (-2.5%), Industrials (-2.1%), Tech (-2.0%), Energy (-2.0%), Consumer Discretionary (-1.7%), Health Care (-1.5%), Telecom (-1.1%), Consumer Staples (-0.9%), Utilities (-0.8%) ..Nasdaq 100 -2.0%. ..S&P Midcap 400 -2.4%. ..Russell 2000 -2.2%. ..NYSE Adv/Dec 375/2711. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 412/2294.
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