US stocks skid as market heads lower for the week

NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. stocks are taking widespread losses Friday morning. Investors continue to sell phone and utility stocks, while chemical and mining companies and energy companies are also in decline as the dollar gets a bit stronger. The losses are pulling stocks lower for the week.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average shed 80 points, or 0.4 percent, to 18,517 as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 9 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,177. The Nasdaq composite skidded 15 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,225. Stocks haven’t moved much over the last few weeks, but the Nasdaq is set to break a seven-week winning streak. Some of the biggest losses Friday went to phone and utility companies. They surged at the beginning of the year as the market tumbled and they’ve lagged the market since then, but they are still some of the best performing stocks on the market in 2016.

ENERGY: Oil’s rally fizzled out and benchmark U.S. crude slid 16 cents to $48.06 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, lost 36 cents to $50.53 a barrel in London. Oil has climbed almost 16 percent over a six-day string of gains. Chevron lost 99 cents, or 1 percent, to $102.56 and Spectra Energy retreated 41 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $36.37.

BONDS, CURRENCIES: Bond prices declined and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.57 percent from 1.54 percent. The dollar edged higher after it recent losses and rose to 100.07 yen. The dollar finished at 99.98 yen Thursday, its first time below 100 yen since October 2013. The euro dipped to $1.1318 from $1.1354.

NOT FEELING PRETTY: Beauty products maker Estee Lauder skidded after its profit forecast for the current quarter and the new fiscal year fell far short of estimates. Estee Lauder stock lost $2.52, or 2.6 percent, to $92.58.

VALUING VALVES: Emerson Electric agreed to buy buying Pentair’s valves and controls business for $3.15 billion. Pentair acquired that business from Tyco International in 2012 as part of a larger deal between those companies and said it had $1.8 billion in revenue in 2015. Emerson stock fell $2.21, or 4 percent, to $52.46 and Pentair gave up $1.21, or 1.8 percent, to $65.32.

GOOD FIT: Foot Locker climbed $4.94, or 8 percent, to $66.62 after the shoe store’s results were better than analysts expected.

CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK: Applied Materials advanced after the manufacturer of chipmaking equipment disclosed new orders and a contract backlog that were much stronger than analysts had forecast. Its stock rose $1.69, or 6.1 percent, to $29.37.

OH DEERE: Farm equipment maker Deere posted strong results and raised its outlook for the year. The company has been cutting costs as farmers struggle with smaller profits on corn and soybeans thanks to large harvests. Its stock added $3.27, or 4.3 percent, to $80.21.

OVERSEAS: France’s CAC 40 shed 1.3 percent and Germany’s DAX lost 0.9 percent. The FTSE in Britain slipped 0.3 percent. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 0.4 percent as the yen got a bit weaker, easing pressure on shares of the country’s export manufacturers. The yen’s recent rise has made Japan’s exports more expensive and complicated efforts to revive growth. South Korea’s Kospi edged up less than 0.1 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.4 percent.