Dow Closes Down Triple Digits as Stocks End One of Worst First Weeks Ever

U.S. stocks closed about 1 percent lower Friday, ending the year’s first trading week with sharp losses as concerns about China and global economic slowdown persisted.

The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 had their worst first five-day performance of a year in history, according to data from Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. The S&P 500 lost $1.05 trillion this week, he said.

The major indexes closed out the week with losses of nearly 6 percent or more, their worst since 2011. The Russell 2000 also had its worst week in more than four years . . .

“I don’t think anyone wants to take on any risk for the weekend. … You just had the worst week in the start of the (year in) market history. Why would you want to go out long?” said Jeremy Klein, chief market strategist at FBN Securities.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed near session lows, down about 167 points, more than giving up opening gains of 137 points. Apple closed half a percent higher but lost nearly 7.9 percent for the week. (Read more from “Dow Closes Down Triple Digits as Stocks End One of Worst First Weeks Ever” HERE)

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