Stocks careened lower Friday as doubts about the financial sector returned to the market's front burner.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced it was slapping Goldman Sachs (GS) with civil fraud charges. A market that had expected to spend Friday mulling Google's (GOOG) quarterly results and parsing data on housing starts and consumer sentiment was suddenly faced with a confidence shaker.
The NYSE dove 1.7%, the S&P 500 1.6%, the Nasdaq 1.4% and the Dow 1.1%. Volume was up across the board. The Goldman news kicked up trade, but Friday also was options expiration day. All four major indexes added a distribution day.
Still, the damage wasn't so severe to derail the market's uptrend.
Losses were broad. The Computer Software-Medical group was one of the gainers, but that was largely on the pull of Phase Forward (PFWD). The lowly rated stock soared 29% on news that Oracle (ORCL) will acquire the company.
Goldman Sachs sank 13% in more than nine times its average volume. The company issued a statement saying the SEC's accusations were unfounded and that it would fight the charges.
The troubles raised fears that additional government regulations were now more likely.
Despite the broad sell-off, only a few top-rated stocks sold off in fast trade. Most withstood the selling fairly well.
Apple (AAPL) eased 0.6% in 42% faster trade. But it finished off its lows for the day.
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) slid 7% in four times its usual trade. The dive erased about half of its gains from the previous six sessions. The stock is 2% below the 367.10 buy point from a flat base.
Semiconductor stocks, which have been strong recently, also took hard hits. SanDisk (SNDK) fell 2% in heavy volume.
Some leaders, though, kept their cool in a nervous session. Lululemon Athletica (LULU) shaved off 1% in brisk trade, but the move did little to change the look of its chart.
Baidu (BIDU) fell more than 2%, but trade was below average. The Chinese search engine operator is less than 3% off its 52-week high.
Google, which disappointed some investors with its quarterly report late Thursday, gapped down almost 8% in more than three times its average trade. The stock, however, had a mediocre Relative Price Strength Rating even before Friday's sell-off, making it less than a top leader. Google is a big weighting of the Nasdaq, so its slide surely hurt the index.
The Nasdaq rose 1.1% for the week and the Dow 0.2%. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% for the week and the NYSE composite slid 0.6%.
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