The Securities and Exchange Commission announced it was slapping Goldman Sachs (GS) with civil fraud charges. A market that had expected to spend Friday mulling Google's (GOOG) quarterly results and parsing data on housing starts and consumer sentiment was suddenly faced with a confidence shaker.
The NYSE dove 1.7%, the S&P 500 1.6%, the Nasdaq 1.4% and the Dow 1.1%. Volume was up across the board. The Goldman news kicked up trade, but Friday also was options expiration day. All four major indexes added a distribution day.
Still, the damage wasn't so severe to derail the market's uptrend.
Losses were broad. The Computer Software-Medical group was one of the gainers, but that was largely on the pull of Phase Forward (PFWD). The lowly rated stock soared 29% on news that Oracle (ORCL) will acquire the company.
Goldman Sachs sank 13% in more than nine times its average volume. The company issued a statement saying the SEC's accusations were unfounded and that it would fight the charges.
The troubles raised fears that additional government regulations were now more likely.
Despite the broad sell-off, only a few top-rated stocks sold off in fast trade. Most withstood the selling fairly well.
Apple (AAPL) eased 0.6% in 42% faster trade. But it finished off its lows for the day.
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) slid 7% in four times its usual trade. The dive erased about half of its gains from the previous six sessions. The stock is 2% below the 367.10 buy point from a flat base.
Semiconductor stocks, which have been strong recently, also took hard hits. SanDisk (SNDK) fell 2% in heavy volume.
Some leaders, though, kept their cool in a nervous session. Lululemon Athletica (LULU) shaved off 1% in brisk trade, but the move did little to change the look of its chart.
Baidu (BIDU) fell more than 2%, but trade was below average. The Chinese search engine operator is less than 3% off its 52-week high.
Google, which disappointed some investors with its quarterly report late Thursday, gapped down almost 8% in more than three times its average trade. The stock, however, had a mediocre Relative Price Strength Rating even before Friday's sell-off, making it less than a top leader. Google is a big weighting of the Nasdaq, so its slide surely hurt the index.
The Nasdaq rose 1.1% for the week and the Dow 0.2%. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% for the week and the NYSE composite slid 0.6%.
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