Dow opens lower, erases weekly gain as fears of a

U.S. stock indexes opened lower on Friday as signs of weakness in Europe's economy underscored worries about sluggish expansion outside of America. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 120 points, or 0.5%, at 25,847, pushing its weekly gain into negative territory, according to FactSet data. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index retreated 0.4% to 2,844, and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.4% to reach 7,807. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were holding on to solid weekly gains, with the broad-market S&P up 0.8%, while the tech-heavy index is up 1.5% so far this week. Setting the tone for early action on Wall Street was a report on purchasing managers, which pointed to a further slowdown in activity during March after tentative signs of a rebound earlier in the year. The news comes after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday downgraded its economic outlook for the year in the U.S. to 2.1% from 2.3% and signaled that there would be no further increases to interest rates in 2019, citing weakness abroad. Investors also are watching developments surrounding Brexit, with European Union leaders allowing U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May to postpone Britain's deadline for an exit from Europe's trade bloc beyond March 29, but warned that the country could still crash out.

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