S&P 500 index is pulled lower by utility stocks; ends with 1st weekly loss since early August

Published January 08, 2015

The Standard & Poor's 500 index is ending with its first weekly loss since early August.

Dividend-rich utility stocks led the losses, and the index slipped 11 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,985 Friday. The S&P 500 fell 1.1 percent for the week.

Its previous down week ended August 1, when the S&P 500 fell 2.75 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 61 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,987. The Nasdaq lost 24 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4,567.

Bond prices fell, pushing up the yield on the 10-year Treasury note to 2.61 percent, from 2.55 percent late Thursday.

Bond prices fell after news that August U.S. retail sales rose faster than economists predicted. That reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve could start hiking interest rates sooner than expected.

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