Stock indexes drop, extending losses to third week, as oil prices fall and dollar strengthens

Traders gather at a post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, March 13, 2015. U.S. stocks are opening slightly lower a day after the market notched its best performance in five weeks. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) (The Associated Press)

prev next

Traders Kevin Lodewick, left, and George Ettinger work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, March 13, 2015. U.S. stocks are opening slightly lower a day after the market notched its best performance in five weeks. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) (The Associated Press)

Trader Robert Arciero, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, March 13, 2015. U.S. stocks are opening slightly lower a day after the market notched its best performance in five weeks. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) (The Associated Press)

NEW YORK – Stocks are closing lower, led by declines in utilities and materials stocks.

The price of oil took another sharp turn lower Friday and the dollar moved higher against the euro, threatening to pinch the profits of big U.S. exporters.

The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 145 points, or 0.8 percent, to 17,749.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 12 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,053. The Nasdaq composite declined 21 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,871.

Crude oil fell $2.21, nearly 5 percent, to $44.84 a barrel in New York. Oil has fallen 10 percent this week and is close to a six-year low.

Rig operator Transocean dropped 5 percent.

U.S. government bond prices didn't move much. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was unchanged at 2.12 percent.