Hot & Cold Sectors
Tracking the major movements across the best & worst performing industry sector indexes.
Dow 30 Stocks
Top Gainers & Losers
Major Indexes & Stocks to Watch

MORE U.S. INDEXES

» More

TOP HEADLINES

» Markets | Economy | Companies

- US Law Firm Dewey Files for Chapter 11, Seeks Liquidation

FEATURED SLIDESHOWS

» More

Strategies For Business Financing
See the various forms of funding, and what entrepreneurs have used to build successful companies.
7 Electric ‘Super Cars’
Take a peek at some of the most luxurious electric cars available on the market.
The World's Best Places to Live
Cities in some of the world's biggest economies, including the U.S., missed the cut. So, which cities made the list?

MOST POPULAR

News

Blog Posts

Videos

SPECIAL REPORTS

» More

- The Facebook IPO
  Get up-to-the-second breaking news on the Facebook IPO, including in-depth coverage, expert analysis, and Facebook’s stock price.

HOT ON FACEBOOK

Dow Drops Over 200; Apple Climbs

Published: Friday, 16 Jul 2010 | 3:30 PM ET

Text Size

By: Cindy Perman
CNBC.com Staff Writer

Stocks skidded Friday after a report showed consumer sentiment dropped to its lowest level in nearly a year and as the latest batch of earnings disappointed.

Major U.S. Indexes

.DJIA

.NCOMP

.SPX

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 200 points, or over 2 percent.

Financials and consumer-discretionary stocks were among the biggest decliners.

FOR INVESTORS

SEC Settlement a 'Win' for Goldman
Sunny Outlook for Stocks This Summer
4 Tech Stock Picks Beyond the Usual

Cramer: Apple Abuses Shareholders? Who Cares?

A gauge of consumer sentiment dropped to 66.5 in mid-July, the lowest level in 11 months, Reuters and the University of Michigan reported. This was a sharp reversal after index hit its highest level in 2 1/2 years last month.

And consumer prices fell 0.1 percent in June, the third straight monthly decline. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, core CPI rose 0.2 percent.

Banks were among the day's biggest decliners after earnings from Bank of America [BAC Loading... () ] and Citigroup [C Loading... () ] beat estimates but disappointed nonetheless as revenues were weak.

This came after similar results from JPMorgan earlier this week that beat expectations but failed to impress analysts.

Financial-reform legislation won final approval in the Senate late Thursday, capping a year of back-and-forth since President Obama proposed financial reform in June 2009.

Banks already are creatively turning financial-reform legislation to their advantage — and their customers may pay the price.

“There’s so much flexibility that these companies have in running their business that this bill is not going to run over them,” Dick Bove, an analyst at Rochdale Securities, said on CNBC Friday. “It’s going to run over the consumer, it’s going to run over the American economy, it’s not going to run over these banks.”

“If you’re a restaurant and you can’t charge for the soda, you’re going to charge more for the burger,” said Jamie Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, after his bank reported a $4.8 billion profit for the second quarter on Thursday. “Over time, it will all be repriced into the business.”

Goldman Sachs [GS Loading... () ] shares jumped more than 1 percent after the bank announced it would pay a record $550 million to settle SEC charges related to subprime mortgage collateralized debt obligations.

The settlement is being touted as a win for Goldman as well as the SEC as the company avoided the fraud allegations, admitting only that it omitted certain information that it should have disclosed.

Computer maker Dell [DELL Loading... () ] said it's nearing a settlement with the SEC over its accounting and the actions of founder and CEO Michael Dell. Shares fell more than 2 percent.

GE [GE Loading... () ] reported its earnings rose more than 16 percent, snapping a nine-quarter losing streak. But revenue was light. GE is the parent company of CNBC.

BP shares [BP Loading... () ] retreated as the company stopped the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico after 86 days and about 183 million gallons of oil were released into the Gulf, but investors remained worried that the 75-ton cap may not hold. BP is running some critical tests over the next two days to see if it will hold.

Apple [AAPL Loading... () ] shares were slightly higher after Apple CEO Steve Jobs held a press conference to address a glitch with the iPhone 4 that causes calls to be dropped. The stock got a quick pop after Jobs said the company will give customers a free case to help correct the glitch.

"We're not feeling right now that we have a giant problem we need to fix," Jobs said.

Read a Live Blog of the Apple Event

Poll: Was This the Right Response From Apple?
After the bell Thursday, tech earnings were mixed: Google [GOOG Loading... () ] missed expectations, while chip maker AMD [AMD Loading... () ] beat consensus estimates.

Retail stocks suffered after that disappointing consumer-sentiment report. Home-repair retailers Home Depot and Lowe’s were both down more than 3 percent. Best Buy and Staples were down more than 4 percent.

Wal-Mart’s [WMT Loading... () ] stock was hit by a Sanford & Bernstein analyst report cutting the retailer’s same-store sales estimate to a decline of 0.5 percent for the second quarter from an increase of 1.5 percent. The analyst also expects Wal-Mart’s profits to fall to 96 cents from 99 cents.