U.S. Stocks Close Down as Absence of American Data Leads Investors to Focus on Europe

4:12 PM, Mar 2, 2012 -- U.S. stocks ended the week on a sour note, posting their third weekly decline out of nine trading weeks so far this year, as a light economic calendar led investors to focus on unsettling news out of Europe.

More gloomy news out of Europe appears to have set the tone for stocks early with Spanish officials raising the country's likely budget deficit target for 2012 as the region's economic slump takes a bite out of tax revenues. Retail sales in Germany also fell during January from the prior month, declining 1.6% following a 0.1% gain in December, according to the Federal Statistics Office. Economists forecast a gain of 0.5%, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

There was no major U.S. economic data release today, so investors focus remained on Europe. Monthly employment figures, usually released on the first Friday of each month, were postponed to March 9 by the Labor Department.

Energy stocks suffered to most today following a sudden dip in oil prices.
For every share rising two fell on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In corporate news, shares of online business-review website Yelp Inc (YELP) rose as much as 73% during its first day of trading after last night pricing its initial public offering of 7.15 million shares at $15 each. The deal went out above its expected $12 to $14 a share range and will generate about $123 million in gross proceeds, less offering costs. Shares shot up to a peak of $26 each soon after the start of the regular session and have eased only slightly to around $24.15 a share -- a level that values the firm at nearly $1.5 billion.

Shutterfly Inc. (SFLY) rallied after the Internet-based photo and digital image firm agreed to buy certain assets, including Kodak Gallery customer accounts and images in the United States and Canada from Eastman Kodak Co, for $23.8 million. Kodak Gallery enables users to store and share their own images and create custom printed photobooks and cards, much like SFLY also does, and has more than 75 million users.

Commodities were mostly lower, with gold for April delivery down $7.60 at $1.714.30 an ounce. Crude-oil futures ended lower, retracing their gains in the previous session as the U.S. dollar traded higher, U.S. equities were lower, and news of a pipeline explosion in Saudi Arabia proved to be unsubstantiated. Oil for April delivery declined $2.14, or 2%, to settle at $106.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On the week, oil decreased 2.8%, snapping a three-week string of gains.

Here's where the market stood at end-of-day:

Dow Jones Industrial Average down 2.73 (-0.02%) to 12,977.57

S&P 500 down 4.23 (-0.31%) to 1,369.86

NASDAQ Composite Index down 12.78 (-0.43%) to 2,976.19

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Nikkei 225 up 0.72%.

Hang Seng Index up 0.81%.

China Shanghai Composite Index up 1.43%.

FTSE 100 down 0.34%.

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) XLS, Guides FY12 EPS, revenues well above Street.

(+) DRRX, Trims Q4 net loss; regains marketing rights to Eladure pain patch

(+) RENN, Announces Release Of Application For Microsoft's Windows 8 App Store

(+) RTP, Announces Initial Production Rates for Mississippi Canyon Block

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) MOTR, Narrows Q4 net loss but revenues miss estimates by nearly 19%.

(-) CISG, Q4 EPS, revenues miss lone analyst's call

(-) LYRI, One-For-Fifteen Reverse Stock Split

(-) TPC, 4 EPS, Revs Miss; Guides Q1, FY12 Below Estimates