U.S. stocks broke two weeks of consecutive gains to finish in the red Friday. Despite of the pullback this week, all major indices remain on track to finish the quarter up 13% or greater.
This week, the Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite hit new highs for 2009 during Wednesday's trading session.
- The Dow came close to breaking the 10,000-mark on Wednesday, trading as high as 9,917.99, its highest level since October 7, 2008
- The S&P 500 hit a new 2009 high of 1,080.15, its highest level since October 6, 2008
- The NASDAQ Composite hit a fresh 2009 high of 2,167.70, its highest level since September 26, 2008
- Month-to-date, the NASDAQ is up the most among the three major indices, rising 4.07%
- Quarter-to-date, the Dow is leading the way with a gain of 14.42%, followed by the NASDAQ Composite and S&P, up 13.94% and 13.60%, respectively
Sector Impact: 10 out of 10 sectors closed the week in negative territory, led to the downside by Materials, Financials and Consumer Discretionary stocks.
- The worst performing stock on the S&P 500 this week was Moody's (MCO), down 20%
- Month-to-date, Industrial and Energy companies are among the best performing
- Quarter-to-date, Financial stocks are taking the lead, up 22.25%
