During the holiday-shortened week, the markets dipped into the red zone. The Dow Jones Industrial Average began the week with its largest decline in nearly a month (1%), as all 30 Dow components lost ground. Technology stocks in the S&P 500 Index fell 1.4% dragging the index down. While Wednesday, the markets recovered some of the previous day’s gains, the markets were down again on Thursday with Energy stocks taking their toll on the S&P. Labor Department figures also showed a jobless claims uptick of 7,000 to 282,000. Economists had expected a decrease to 270,000 from a revised 275,000 the week prior. On Friday, economic data weighed on the markets when first-quarter gross domestic product was downwardly revised to negative 0.7% in a second estimate. Consumer confidence decreased slightly in May, as the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index slipped 5.2 points to a six-month low of 90.7.
