Wall Street stocks took a breather this week, finishing down from record levels despite solid US economic data and a successful products launch by Apple Inc.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 149.85 points (0.87 percent) to close the week at 16,987.51, while the broad-based S&P 500 fell 22.17 (1.10 percent) to 1,985.54.
The tech-rich NASDAQ Composite Index, bolstered by a 2.8 percent gain in Apple, declined a relatively modest 15.30 (0.33 percent) to 4,567.60.
The week was relatively light on major US economic data. The most prominent report showed that US retail sales grew 0.6 percent last month, picking up from growth of 0.3 percent in July.
“There’s a sense the economy is picking up a bit of momentum,” Meeschaert Capital Markets president Gregori Volokhine said.
Investors were also cheered by a jam-packed product launch by Apple that included new models of its iPhones, a smartwatch and a new mobile payments system. Apple shares traded in a volatile fashion during the presentation on Tuesday, but finished solidly higher the next day. Once the dust settled, the launch drew raves from many observers.
As the biggest US company by market capitalization, Apple gave a lift to the overall market. Still, stocks as a whole struggled through much of the week, hit by a number of headwinds.
Chief among them was concern over Scotland independence referendum vote set for Thursday, which introduced difficult questions about how a move by Scotland off of the British pound would be achieved if the referendum is approved.
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