Stocks headed steadily lower throughout Friday's session, pressured by disappointing economic data. A round of negative earnings reactions weighed on the main benchmarks, too, with all three ending the day and the week with notable losses.
It was a busy morning on the economic calendar. Shortly after the open, S&P Global said its Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 51.6 in February from 51.2 in January. Its Flash Services PMI, on the other hand, declined to 49.7 in February from 52.9 in January – marking the first contraction of activity in the services sector in more than two years.
