US close: Stocks decline as S&P downgrades Greece

US stocks declined on Friday, as a strong job report was offset by worries about Greece's financial situation heightened in the wake of a downgrade by Standard & Poor’s

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 60.59 points down, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.34% and 0.43% respectively.

S&P sparked fears about Greece's future after it downgraded the country’s long-term sovereign-debt rating to B-minus from B and kept it on watch for additional downgrades, should its prospects deteriorate.

Non-farm payroll in the US increased by 257,000 in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), beating expectations of a 231,000 rise.

Jobs growth for the prior two months combined were revised higher by a net 147,000 and the cumulative three-month gain in non-farm payrolls was the largest since 1997.

The unemployment rate rose by one tenth of a percentage point to 5.7%, against expectations of a 5.6% increase. However, that was the result of the labour force participation rate edging higher to 62.9% from 62.7% in the month before.

“The US dataflow has become more bearish in part due to the dollar’s recent strength. Corporate earnings reports are awash with warnings of how the strong dollar is hurting exports and hitting profits,” said Markit chief economist Chris Williamson.

“Companies might therefore start taking a more cautious approach to hiring in coming months.

“While a mid-year rate rise remains on the table, if continued in coming weeks, the weaker data flow points to rates not being hiked until the second half of 2015, and perhaps policy even being on hold until 2016 if events such as the Greek debt talks and geopolitical worries over Russia add to economic uncertainty and dampen global demand.”

Among the corporates on the rise, Moody’s rose 5.11% after reporting fourth quarter earnings that beat estimates.

Harris and Exelis surged over 9.63% and 36.25% respectively after announcing a deal which will see Harris buy the aerospace group for $4.75bn in cash and shares.

Twitter surged 16.36% after its fourth quarter earnings, released late on Thursday, were above Wall Street’s expectations, while LinkedIn also jumped over 10% on the back of strong fourth quarter results.

Going the other way, GoPro slumped 13.33% after the company announcing it expected earnings for the current quarter to miss estimates. The maker of wearable video cameras also said its chief operating officer had quit his role.

Pandora Media plunged over 17% after saying late on Thursday night that its fourth quarter revenue missed expectations and saying its outlook for 2015 is also likely to come in below estimates, while Expedia dropped over 11% following disappointing quarterly results.

The dollar rallied, gaining over 1% against the yen and the euro and over 0.6% against the pound, while gold futures slid 2.07% to $1,236.60.

Oil prices rebounded, with West Texas Intermediate rising over 2.9% to $52.02 a barrel, while Brent crude rose over 2.6% to $58.10 a barrel.

S&P 500 - Risers
Harris Corp. (HRS) $76.18 +9.63%
FLIR Systems Inc. (FLIR) $33.97 +6.82%
VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $59.97 +5.30%
Moody's Corp. (MCO) $98.04 +5.11%
Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) $29.11 +4.26%
Rowan Companies plc (RDC) $22.99 +3.93%
Regions Financial Corp. (RF) $9.56 +3.91%
Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) $55.80 +3.76%
CME Group Inc. (CME) $94.17 +3.67%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $22.26 +3.63%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $77.87 -11.51%
Health Care REIT Inc. (HCN) $77.25 -5.37%
SCANA Corp. (SCG) $60.47 -5.31%
Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PEG) $40.59 -5.30%
American Electric Power Co. Inc. (AEP) $59.15 -5.28%
FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) $38.94 -5.12%
Ameren Corp. (AEE) $42.89 -5.01%
Edison International (EIX) $64.37 -4.96%
Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) $35.71 -4.93%
DTE Energy Co. (DTE) $85.25 -4.81%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $49.33 +3.07%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $57.89 +1.97%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $183.43 +1.47%
AT&T Inc. (T) $34.87 +0.96%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $33.17 +0.55%
American Express Co. (AXP) $85.01 +0.33%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $109.61 +0.27%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $76.10 +0.13%
General Electric Co. (GE) $24.52 +0.08%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $87.33 +0.06%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $33.29 -1.92%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $91.79 -1.66%
Visa Inc. (V) $267.42 -1.61%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $101.10 -1.33%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $85.61 -1.26%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $107.60 -1.12%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $91.50 -0.93%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $41.45 -0.81%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $156.72 -0.75%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $58.79 -0.64%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $82.29 +5.14%
Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR) $118.90 +3.12%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $29.91 +2.45%
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc Class A (FOXA) $33.58 +2.38%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $57.07 +1.49%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $22.10 +1.31%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $67.07 +1.24%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $24.24 +1.15%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $67.72 +1.06%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $61.13 +1.06%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $77.87 -11.51%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $24.77 -4.60%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $87.83 -4.23%
Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) $130.19 -3.54%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $68.55 -2.88%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $108.66 -2.63%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $66.28 -2.46%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $97.51 -2.39%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $16.57 -2.36%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $211.78 -2.32%