After Market: Stocks Finish Wild Week with a Whimper

DailyFinance Staff
Updated

Stocks bounced in and out of the plus column before picking a direction on Friday. Unfortunately, the path chosen was down again, though not far. The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) extended its losing streak to five days, dropping another 43 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 (^GSPC)
fell 5 and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) lost 15 points. In all, each of the major averages lost in the neighborhood of a quarter of a percent Friday, and all lost ground for the week.

Meanwhile, another once-popular teen retailer took a tumble. Shares of Aeropostale (ARO) tumbled 20 percent after the retailer posted a wider than expected quarterly loss. The stock is now down 60 percent over the past year.

But investors were buying some other retailers. Zumiez (ZUMZ), also geared toward teens, rose 2½ percent despite forecasting a loss in the current quarter.

A couple of chains geared toward women did well. Ulta Salon (ULTA) gained nearly 6½ percent as earnings topped expectations. Ann (ANN), best known for its Ann Taylor stores, rose 7½ percent. And Coach (COH) gained 2 percent.

Other gainers today:

  • Green Mountain (GMCR), maker of Keurig, was up 7 percent, after expanding its deal with Starbucks.

  • Liberty Media (LSTZA) ended its deal to buy those shares of Sirius XM (SIRI) it doesn't already own. Both stocks gained on the news; Liberty up 7 percent, Sirius up 2 percent.

  • And Castlight Health (CSLT) soared nearly 150 percent above its $16 a share IPO price. The company, which helps workers choose healthcare benefits, stands to gain from Obamacare.


On the downside:

Tesla (TSLA) lost another 3 percent on reports that New York could become the fifth state to block the company from selling direct to consumers. Still, Tesla has a pretty good track record. It's stock has soared more than 500 percent over the past year.

Biotechs continued to lose ground. Celgene (CELG) fell 4 percent on a double dose of bad news. British regulators reportedly plan to reject the company's application to market a cancer treatment there. And a U.S. judge will hear a challenge to the company's patent on that same drug.

What to Watch Monday:

  • The Federal Reserve Bank of New York releases its survey of manufacturing conditions within New York state at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.

  • The Treasury Department releases foreign holdings of U.S. debt for January at 9 a.m.

  • The Federal Reserve reports industrial production for January at 9:15 a.m.

  • The National Association of Home Builders releases March housing-market data at 10 a.m.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg.

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