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CNBC ON DIGG

Stocks Pull Back as Consumer Mood Sours

Published: Friday, 30 Oct 2009 | 10:51 AM ET

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By: CNBC.com

Stocks opened lower Friday after reports showed consumer sentiment and spending have declined.

Major U.S. Indexes

.DJIA

.NCOMP

.SPX

This came after stocks logged their best day since July on Thursday, with the Dow jumping 2 percent.

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The sectors that have led the recent rally pulled back today: Financials fell 2 percent. Materials and energy dropped more than 1.5 percent.

Reuters and the University of Michigan reported their gauge of consumer sentiment slipped to 70.6 in a final October reading from 73.5 in September.

FOR INVESTORS

And the government said consumer spending fell 0.5 percent last month while income was flat. Separate reports showed employment costs rose and New York City's economic activity continuing to pick up.

Investors shrugged off an encouraging regional report: Business activity in the Midwest expanded in October to the highest level in more than a year, according to the Chicago purchasing managers' index

On the earnings front, Chevron [CVX Loading... () ] reported its profit slumped 51 percent but beat expectations as the company pumped more oil out of the ground and prices began to recover.

This came a day after rival ExxonMobil [XOM Loading... () ] missed analysts' earnings target.

Winterizing Your Portfolio - A CNBC Special Report

Bankruptcy looms for commercial lender CIT Group [CIT Loading... () ] as the company reached an agreement with Goldman Sachs [GS Loading... () ] to amend a $3 billion loan as part of a plan to restructure debt.

AIG [AIG Loading... () ] said on Friday it would not sell its two Japanese insurers.

Intel shares [INTC Loading... () ] rose and there's been heavy options action on the stock amid optimism about the chip maker's forecast.

A few more techs delivered upbeat outlooks, including Sony, Panasonic and Samsung.

Sony [SNE Loading... () ] posted a fourth-quarter loss but cut its full-year loss forecast closer to market expectations, while rival Panasonic [PC Loading... () ] showed its first profit in three quarters while raising its forecast.