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US stocks closed lower on Friday as data showed the economy contracted in the first quarter but the indexes still posted gains for the month.
Transportation shares also weighed on the market, extending recent losses. The Dow Jones transportation average fell 0.8 per cent, putting it just shy of correction territory, almost 10 per cent below its 2014 high.
Data showed the US economy contracted at a 0.7 per cent annual rate in the quarter, a sharp turnaround from the earlier estimate of growth of 0.2 per cent.
Weak reports on factory activity in the Midwest and consumer sentiment for May suggested that the growth pace was modest early in the second quarter.
“We had some weak numbers, but it’s the end of the month for the trading of May, which can sometimes cause a sell-off. It’s also Friday and Greece worries are still in the marketplace,’’ said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.
US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had repeated warnings on Friday not to minimise the global stability risk of Greece sliding out of the euro zone.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 115.44 points or 0.64 per cent to 18,010.68, the S&P 500 lost 13.4 points or 0.63 per cent to 2,107.39 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 27.95 points or 0.55 per cent to 5,070.03.
For the month, the Dow was up 1 per cent, the S&P 500 was up 1.1 per cent and the Nasdaq gained 2.6 per cent.
For the week, stocks posted losses, however. The Dow was down 1.2 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 0.9 per cent and the Nasdaq lost 0.4 per cent.
Weighing on the market Friday, shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb tumbled 6.6 per cent, its biggest daily drop since 2012, following a company presentation at a cancer meeting. The stock had gained 8.5 per cent this month before the presentation.
Humana jumped 20.3 per cent to a record high after a source said it is considering selling itself.
Intel was up 1.3 per cent to $34.46. People familiar with the matter said it has resumed talks to buy programmable-chip maker Altera Corp and is close to a $16-billion deal. Altera rose 4 per cent to $48.85.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,097 to 945, for a 2.22-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,723 issues fell and 1,039 advanced for a 1.66-to-1 ratio favouring decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and 7 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 77 new highs and 36 new lows.
About 7 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, above the 6.1 billion daily average for May, according to BATS Global Markets.
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