Wall Street slips after weak economic data

(Reuters) - U.S. shares were slightly lower on Friday as weak economic data pointed to a lack of momentum in the economy.

Industrial output slipped 0.3 percent, weighed down by a decline in production by mining companies and utilities. Economists had forecast a rise of 0.1 percent.

U.S. consumer sentiment also fell more than expected in May and was at the lowest level since October.

"I think April is shaping up to be a weak month for consumption but the economy is still growing," said Ilya Feygin, managing director at WallachBeth Capital in New York.

"There is some concern about the first-quarter weakness spilling into the current quarter."

Adding to the negative tone, economists cut their forecasts for U.S. economic growth in the second quarter and full year, and trimmed expectations for U.S. labor market gains.

The economy had slowed to a crawl in the first quarter, hit by weak oil prices, harsh weather and port disruptions.

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Friday as a selloff in the global bond market eased after purchases by the European Central Bank.

Five of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, with the financials index <.SPSY> leading the losers with a 0.4 percent decline. Wells Fargo was the biggest drag on the index with a 1 percent fall.

The stock market has been choppy in recent sessions, with the S&P 500 <.SPX> closing at a record-high on Thursday, while the Dow is 0.2 percent lower than its closing high set on March 2.

The three major indexes were on track to close up for the week for the first time in three weeks.

At 11:30 a.m. ET (1530 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 18.29 points, or 0.1 percent, at 18,233.95, the S&P 500 <.SPX> was down 2.43 points, or 0.11 percent, at 2,118.67 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> was down 9.42 points, or 0.19 percent, at 5,041.37.

El Pollo Loco Holdings shares slumped 13.3 percent to $25.17 after the restaurant chain operator forecast a full-year profit largely below estimates.

Netflix rose as much as 5 percent to a record-high of $616.59 after Bloomberg reported that it was in talks with a company backed by Alibaba's Jack Ma to enter China.

Deere fell 4 percent to $88.50 after J.P. Morgan downgraded the farm equipment maker to "underweight" from "neutral".

Keurig Green Mountain fell as much as 9.4 percent to a year-low of $93.33, after Bloomberg reported that the K-cup coffee pod maker would not make available its new cold brewing system in all it is retail outlets until next year.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,462 to 1,459, for a nearly 1-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,477 issues fell and 1,134 advanced for a 1.30-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The S&P 500 index posted 34 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 69 new highs and 22 new lows.

(Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

WhatsAppFacebookTwitterLinkedinBeloudBluesky