Stocks Started May on a DownBeat Note

U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday, starting the first trading day in May on a downbeat note, after the latest batch of corporate earnings results suggested a grim outlook for the current quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 622.03 points, or 2.55%, to 23,723.69. The S&P 500 declined 81.72 points, or 2.81%, to 2,830.71. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 284.60 points, or 3.20%, to 8,604.95. For the week, the Dow ended off 0.2%, the S&P 500 booked a 0.2% weekly decline and the Nasdaq looked a 5-session loss of 0.3%.

U.S. oil futures finished higher on Friday to score a weekly gain as the market marked the official start date for production cuts under the recent agreement between major oil producers. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery rose 94 cents, or 5%, to settle at $19.78 a barrel. It logged a 16.8% weekly rise. July Brent crude settled at $26.44 a barrel, down 4 cents, or nearly 0.2%. For the week, front-month contract prices rose 6.6%.