Stocks Log First Weekly Loss Since Early May

SARA LEPRO

NEW YORK (AP) — Caution has once again overcome the stock market.

Stocks finished mixed Friday, leaving all the major indexes with their first weekly loss since early May. Tech, financial and retail stocks gained, while utilities and energy stocks were lower.

The market began the day stronger, following surprisingly good reports the day before on jobs and manufacturing. But the early gains gave way to selling in the afternoon, saddling the Dow Jones industrials with four days of losses over the past five.

With little in the way of corporate or economic news Friday, prospects were poor for restarting a rally that powered the market up as much as 40 percent this spring after hitting its lowest level in more than a decade in early March. Traders have grown worried in recent weeks that an economic recovery may be more subdued than originally hoped and that the huge run-up in stocks may have been overdone.

"There's no question in my mind that the economy is improving," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors. "But investors are betting on some sideways consolidation rather than a continuation of a sharp spike in share prices."