US Market

Stocks Posting Notable Losses Despite Upbeat Economic Data

Stocks are down by substantial margins in mid-morning trading on Friday, as the markets have largely shrugged off continued improvements on the economic front in the U.S. as the European debt crisis remains a chief concern. The major averages are all firmly in negative territory, adding to yesterday's losses.

A short time ago, Reuters and the University of Michigan released their preliminary report on consumer sentiment in the month of May, showing that sentiment improved roughly in line with estimates compared to the previous month.

Reuters and the University of Michigan said that their consumer sentiment index rose to 73.3 in May from a final reading of 72.2 in April. Economists had been expecting the consumer sentiment index to increase to a reading of 73.5.

In other economic news released recently, the Commerce Department reported that business inventories increased by 0.4 percent in March following a 0.5 percent increase in February. The increase in inventories came in line with economist estimates.

Before the opening bell, the Commerce Department released a separate report showing that retail sales edged up by 0.4 percent in April following an upwardly revised 2.1 percent increase in March. Economists had expected retail sales to increase by 0.5 percent compared to the 1.6 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.

Also on the economic front, the Federal Reserve said that industrial production increased by 0.8 percent in April following an upwardly revised 0.2 percent increase in March. The increase in production came in line with economist estimates, while the growth seen in the previous month was revised from the previously reported 0.1 percent increase.

The report also showed that capacity utilization rose to 73.7 percent in April from a downwardly revised 73.1 percent in the previous month. Economists had expected capacity utilization to increase to 73.9 percent compared to the 73.2 percent originally reported for March.

The major averages have seen choppy movement since moving off of their session lows. The Dow is currently down 148.58 points or 1.4 percent at 10,634.37, the Nasdaq is down 45.64 points or 1.9 percent at 2,348.72 and the S&P 500 is down 19.06 points or 1.7 percent at 1,138.37.