Stocks End Streak of Weekly Gains

U.S. stocks ended slightly lower on Friday and broke a four-week winning streak on lingering concern that the U.S. central bank  may scale back its stimulus measures to support the economy. The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 8.60 points, or 0.06
percent, to end at 15,303.10. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dipped just 0.91 of a point, or 0.06 percent, to finish at 1,649.60. The Nasdaq Composite Index inched down 0.28 point, or 0.01 percent, to close at 3,459.14. For the week, the Dow slipped 0.3 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each lost 1.1 percent.

Yahoo Inc has submitted a formal proposal to buy Hulu, joining a growing list of bidders for the video service owned by News Corp and Walt Disney Co, two sources with knowledge of the bid told Reuters on Friday.

Investors worldwide poured $1.2 billion into corporate loan funds based in the United States in the latest week as signs the Federal Reserve could scale back on stimulus sparked fears of rising U.S. interest rates, according to Bank of America Merrill
Lynch.

Visa Inc. (V), MasterCard Inc. (MA) and several major banks filed a lawsuit seeking a ruling that interchange fees and merchant policies didn’t violate U.S. antitrust law. The lawsuit specifically targets price-fixing claims by trade associations and retailers that were involved in a multibillion-dollar settlement and opted to drop out.