The US markets ended the Friday’s trade slightly in red, as a lack of major U.S. economic data kept some traders on the sidelines. Uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets too contributed to the choppy trading following the recent move to record highs by the major averages. Market participants also stayed away from investing in risky assets ahead of Federal Reserve meet next week, with the central bank due to announce its latest monetary policy decision next Wednesday. Moreover, a negative reaction to earnings news from some big-name companies weighed on Wall Street, with shares of General Electric (GE) showing a notable decline. GE slumped by 2.9 percent after the conglomerate reported better than expected second quarter earnings but warned of full-year profits at the low end of its forecasts. Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) also moved lower on the day even though the software giant reported fiscal fourth quarter results that exceeded forecasts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 31.71 points or 0.15 percent to 21,580.07, S&P 500 slipped by 0.91 points or 0.04 percent to 2,472.54 and Nasdaq was down by 2.25 points or 0.04 percent to 6,387.75.