Wall Street falls as energy lags; shares post gains on week

Energy was the worst-performing major S&P sector, dropping 1.3 per cent

Wall Street retreated on Friday as lower oil prices weighed on energy shares and Facebook and Apple declined, but major indexes still posted gains for the week.

Energy was the worst-performing major S&P sector, dropping 1.3 per cent. Oil prices tumbled four per cent on signs Saudi Arabia and Iran were making little progress on a bilateral agreement ahead of talks by crude exporters aimed at freezing production.

Facebook shares fell 1.6 per cent and were one of the biggest drags on the S&P 500. The Wall Street Journal reported that the social media company overestimated viewing times for video ads.

Even so, the S&P 500 recorded its best weekly performance in more than two months. Stocks were given a boost on Wednesday when the US Federal Reserve decided to keep rates steady, leaving intact the low-interest-rate environment that has helped fuel the bull market.

"I just think after a few strong days and a little weakness in energy that folks are taking some profit before the weekend," said Gary Bradshaw, portfolio manager with Hodges Capital Management in Dallas. "I just feel like the market is going to keep grinding higher," Bradshaw added.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 131.01 points, or 0.71 per cent, at 18,261.45, the S&P 500 lost 12.49 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 2,164.69 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 33.78 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 5,305.75.

For the year, the benchmark S&P 500 is up about six per cent. With the highly anticipated Fed decision now past, investors are turning toward the upcoming corporate earnings season and US presidential election, with the first debate on Monday.

"We have a lot of noise coming in with the end of the quarter and the debate," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice-president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama. "But given what the Fed has done, I think we have volatility with a bias to the upside," Hellwig added.

Nine of 11 major S&P sectors ended lower. The tech sector fell about one per cent, with Apple shares down 1.7 per cent on concerns about iPhone sales.

Twitter shares surged 21 per cent on reports that the microblogging company had initiated talks with several technology companies to explore selling itself.

Endo International shares jumped over 15 per cent after the drugmaker announced a new chief executive.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 2.13-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.67-to-1 ratio favoured decliners.

The S&P 500 posted seven new 52-week highs and one new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 88 new highs and 13 new lows.

About 6.3 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, below the 6.9 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.