Friday’s session closed in the red zone. Despite the largest one-day dip for the year so far, brands traded well off session lows thanks to some late-day rallying. Stocks slipped amid Greek debt uncertainty and mixed economic data. Although an official statement, released yesterday from the beleaguered country confirmed an austerity agreement, trade unions have begun a two-day strike. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade gap increased by $1.7 billion in December to $48.8 billion. The largest gap in six months; the results were slightly better than expected. On another note, consumer confidence is down this month. In a preliminary reading, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index fell to 72.5 for February. Down from 75 in January, economists had expected a lesser dip to a reading of 74.5. Elsewhere, crude oil shed $1.17 to settle at $98.67 a barrel.
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