U.S. stocks fall; first weekly drop since August

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks declined on Friday, with the S&P 500 index and Dow industrials posting their first weekly drop in four, as Wall Street remained unsettled over the lack of progress in budget negotiations on Capitol Hill, with a deadline just days away. “Right now there is going to be a lot of misplaced angst over the whole debt-ceiling argument. It’s political brinkmanship, a sequel that has the same ending time after time; there will be a rash of negative headlines and people losing their tempers. It’s going to create some choppiness in the market between here and October,” said Matthew Kaufler, portfolio manager at Federated Investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI JIA) fell 70.06 points to 15,258.24. The S&P 500 index (SNC:SPX) lost 6.92 points to 1,691.75. The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ:COMP) fell 5.83 points to 3,781.59.