US stocks fall as oil retreats

 U.S. stocks traded lower on Friday, as further declines in oil prices continued to weigh on Wall Street.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 74.39 points, or 0.41 percent, to 17,910.80. The S&P 500 shed 12.95 points, or 0.61 percent, to 2,102.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 43.47 points, or 0.88 percent, to 4,915.15.

Oil prices extended losses to trade more than 1.5 percent lower in the morning session on Friday, as traders took profits after a recent winning streak.

U.S. oil settled above 51 U.S. dollars a barrel earlier this week for the first time since July 2015, helped by a larger-than-expected U.S. crude stockpile draw.

On the economic front, the preliminary reading of consumer sentiment index published by Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan came in at 94.3 for June, slightly lower than May's final read of 94.7.

"The University of Michigan's preliminary June consumer sentiment index was slightly better than expected at 94.3 but was nonetheless down from 94.7 in May. The big news, however, was a drop in long-term (5-10 year) inflation expectations from 2.5 percent to 2.3 percent, the lowest reading on record," said Chris Low and Sophia Kearney-Lederman, economists at FTN Financial, in a joint note.

U.S. stocks pared part of early losses to close mildly lower Thursday, as a decline in oil prices dampened investor sentiment. 

source : xinhua