US close: Markets mixed following ECB decision and lower than expected home sales

US stocks were mixed on Friday after the positive impact of the ECB failed to last into the afternoon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.79% to 17,672.60 while Nasdaq grew 0.18% to 4,278.14 while S&P 500 dropped 0.55% to 2,051.82.

US existing home sales came in at 5.04m, broadly in line with consensus estimates of 5.08m. Barclays research said: “The December acceleration in existing home sales puts the Q4 average pace of sales at 5.07m, a sequential decline from Q3 (5.12m) but above Q2 levels (4.87m). We continue to expect residential investment to contribute to overall growth in Q4.”

However, Connor Campbell from Spreadex added: “After appearing to reverse its New Year slump this week, the US markets were dealt a blow as both flash manufacturing data and existing home sales both came in lower than expected.

“This has been the trend for 2015’s US data, and after the astonishing run the Dow Jones went on last year, investors have been thoroughly disappointed in the USA’s start to the New Year.”

IG analyst Chris Beauchamp said: “GE and McDonald’s set the tone for the afternoon with lacklustre figures, and the latter added to the gloom with a very downbeat outlook that indicates the first months of 2015 will be just as hard as the end of 2014. Unsurprisingly the shares dropped rapidly before recovering to stand down 0.6% as the session continued."

Oil prices were making gains during the day with WTI up 4.8% to $48.60 a barrel and Brent up 3.3% to $49.94 a barrel.

Over on COMEX, gold futures fell 0.49% to $1,294.30 while the dollar rose against the pound, the yen, and the euro.

The yield on a benchmark US 10-year Treasury fell eight basis points to 1.79%.

S&P 500 - Risers
E*TRADE Financial Corp. (ETFC) $24.56 +8.41%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $88.22 +6.62%
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $50.16 +4.50%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $79.62 +4.00%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $87.16 +3.80%
Honeywell International Inc. (HON) $102.50 +3.13%
Harman International Industries Inc. (HAR) $101.56 +2.71%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $72.07 +2.59%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $437.45 +2.10%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $54.94 +2.04%

S&P 500 - Fallers
United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) $102.93 -9.91%
United States Steel Corp. (X) $20.58 -9.38%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $65.24 -8.05%
Avon Products Inc. (AVP) $7.98 -7.85%
Sealed Air Corp. (SEE) $40.04 -6.99%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $6.30 -6.39%
Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) $111.65 -6.16%
State Street Corp. (STT) $72.40 -6.08%
Kansas City Southern (KSU) $107.79 -5.20%
Bank Of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) $36.90 -4.70%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
General Electric Co. (GE) $24.48 +0.82%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $96.16 +0.32%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $155.87 +0.31%
Visa Inc. (V) $258.29 +0.27%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $88.51 +0.24%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $47.18 +0.11%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $90.89 -2.13%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $106.85 -1.90%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $73.79 -1.73%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $90.08 -1.68%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $112.00 -1.62%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $56.68 -1.58%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $102.20 -1.50%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $89.56 -1.46%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $85.61 -1.39%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $47.15 -1.36%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $88.22 +6.62%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $72.07 +2.59%
Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (MXIM) $33.76 +2.27%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $437.45 +2.10%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $87.44 +2.02%
Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $106.98 +1.69%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $197.16 +1.69%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $183.32 +1.66%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $118.38 +1.64%
CA Inc. (CA) $31.01 +1.54%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $65.24 -8.05%
Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR) $131.08 -2.69%
Altera Corp. (ALTR) $34.26 -2.64%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $24.11 -2.07%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $69.77 -1.90%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $36.94 -1.73%
Liberty Media Corporation - Class A (LMCA) $34.55 -1.68%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $517.57 -1.49%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $125.57 -1.36%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $28.04 -1.30%