U.S. stocks slipped on Friday after crude oil settled above $60 a barrel, stirring fears of high energy costs and government data showed the economy expanded as much as economists expected, Reuters reported. Cyclical, or economically sensitive, stocks fell, including General Electric, which lost 1.1 percent after the report on gross domestic product. "Oil has spiked up and GDP came in less than some expected on an annualized basis," Kevin Beadles, managing director of institutional trading at Wedbush Morgan, said of the day's declines. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 64.64 points, or 0.60 percent, to end at 10,640.91. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 9.54 points, or 0.77 percent, to finish at 1,234.18. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 13.61 points, or 0.62 percent, to close at 2,184.83. U.S. light sweet crude for September delivery settled at $60.57 a barrel, up 63 cents as refinery fires in the United States revived fears of tight supplies. Earlier, September crude touched a session high at $61.05. GE, a Dow component, fell 38 cents to $34.50 on the New York Stock Exchange. Still, better-than-expected earnings from companies like Whole Foods Market Inc. and MetLife Inc. lent some support to the broader market. Whole Foods shares jumped 11.6 percent to $136.51 on Nasdaq, a day after it reported quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street estimates. Earlier, the stock hit a lifetime high of $137.86. The U.S. economy grew at a 3.4 percent annual rate in the second quarter, the government reported. The figure was just slightly below the first quarter's 3.8 percent rate, but marked the ninth straight quarter that GDP growth exceeded 3 percent. "I think the stock market finally fell victim to stronger economic news, which led to a decline in Treasury prices and a rise in bond yields," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at Spencer Clarke in New York. "If bond yields were to rise high enough, that would slow the economy and that would put a lid on equity prices, or lead to a brief pullback." The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 26/32, or almost a full point, to a price of 98-21/32, pushing its yield up nearly 10 basis points to 4.296 percent, a three-month high. Shares of MetLife rose to an all-time high of $50.25 as the insurer's second-quarter profit rose more than expected. The stock climbed 2.3 percent, or $1.08, to close at $49.14 on the NYSE. Wendy's International Inc. shares soared to a lifetime high of $52.07 after the fast-food chain said it plans to sell up to 18 percent of its Tim Horton doughnut chain. The shares surged 14.2 percent, or $6.43, to close at $51.70 on the NYSE. Symantec Corp., the world's biggest security software maker, posted a higher quarterly profit, but it cut its full-year revenue outlook. Its shares fell 7.7 percent, or $1.84, to $21.95 on Nasdaq. And Synaptics Inc., which makes the TouchPad pointing device used in notebook computers, sank 24.6 percent, or $5.17, to $15.85 on Nasdaq after it forecast lower-than-expected revenue in the current quarter. Trading was light on the NYSE, with about 1.39 billion shares changing hands, below last year's daily average of 1.46 billion, while on Nasdaq, about 1.60 billion shares traded, below last year's daily average of 1.81 billion. Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones by a ratio of 4 to 3 on the NYSE and by about 8 to 7 on the Nasdaq. --SP 0000 Local Time 2100 GMT
