U.S. stocks finished lower on Friday following hawkish comments from a top Federal Reserve official and downbeat retail-sales data. Meanwhile, a spate of big-bank earnings came in better than expected, boosting some financial stocks. The S&P 500 SPX fell by 8.70 points, or 0.2%, at 4,137.52, according to preliminary closing data from FactSet. The Nasdaq Composite COMP declined by 42.81 points, or 0.4%, to 12,123.47. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA declined by 143.22 points, or 0.4%, to 33,886.47. All three of the main indexes logged their fourth weekly gain in five, with the S&P 500 rising 0.8%, Nasdaq gaining 0.3%, and the Dow up 1.2%, according to FactSet data. Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, Citigroup Inc. C and Wells Fargo & Co. WFC all climbed after their quarterly earnings surpassed Wall Street expectations.
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