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U.S. stocks end lower on oil slide, soft data

Xinhua, April 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks closed mildly lower Friday after wavering in a tight range, as investors assessed declines in oil prices amid downbeat economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 28.97 points, or 0.16 percent, to 17,897.46. The S&P 500 inched down 2.05 points, or 0.10 percent, to 2,080.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 7.67 points, or 0.16 percent, to 4,938.22.

Oil prices retreated further Friday, with both U.S. oil and Brent crude on a three-day losing streak, as traders kept cautious ahead of a Doha producers' meeting.

Oil producers led by top exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia will meet in Doha, Qatar on Sunday to discuss freezing output around current levels.

On the economic front, U.S. industrial production decreased 0.6 percent in March for a second month in a row, according to the Federal Reserve Friday.

"Optimism out of China last night, combined with recoveries in almost every regional manufacturing index tracked by the Fed, has investors counting on a strong rebound in the second quarter," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial.

Overseas, China's economy continued to slow in the first quarter of 2016, official data showed on Friday, but several key indicators pointed to signs of stabilizing.

The country's Gross Domestic Product in the first quarter of 2016 grew 6.7 percent year on year to reach 15.9 trillion yuan (2.4 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

In corporate news, Citigroup reported Friday first quarter 2016 net income of 3.5 billion dollars, or 1.10 dollars per diluted share, on revenues of 17.6 billion dollars. Both the bank's earnings and revenue topped expectations. Shares of Citi, however, edged down 0.13 percent to 44.92 dollars apiece.

For the week, all three major indices posted solid gains, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq surging 1.8 percent, 1.6 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. Endit