Stocks drop, hurt by sporting goods

U.S. stocks slumped in the final minutes of trading Friday and ended a rough week with more losses. Bad news from sporting goods retailers weighed on the market.

On Thursday, stocks took their biggest loss in three months. On Friday, they opened lower after retailers Foot Locker and Hibbett Sports gave dour quarterly reports. Stocks briefly turned higher after reports that President Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, had left his White House post. Investors felt that made it a bit more likely the administration could achieve at least some of its pro-business agenda.

Major stock indexes are at their lowest levels since early July as investors respond to tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, terrorist attacks in Spain and mounting challenges to Trump’s policy goals. But the market hasn’t had a severe reaction. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is only 2.2% below the record high it set this month.

“There is a tremendous amount of optimism that is supporting the market even in the face of extraordinary stress,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network. “The question is: Will politics pull that down? And the answer seems to be no, because the market has learned not to pay that much attention.”

Foot Locker dived 27.9% to $34.38, its biggest loss in almost nine years. The athletic gear retailer said some high-priced sneakers didn’t sell as well as it hoped, and there aren’t a lot of exciting new shoes on the market. It now plans to close at least 135 stores, up from 100.

Hibbett Sports cut its annual forecasts, and its stock fell 5.2% to $10.90. It’s down 71% this year. Foot Locker has fallen 52%.

Companies that make athletic goods also lost ground Friday. Nike sank 4.4% to $54.95. Real estate companies that own shopping malls and other retail locations fell too.

Ross Stores, meanwhile, jumped 10.7% to $59.02. The discount store chain raised its annual forecasts after a strong quarter.

Deere slid 5.4% to $117.31 after its quarterly sales came in lower than hoped.

Energy companies rose as benchmark U.S. crude oil jumped 3% to $48.51 a barrel. Brent crude rose 3.3% to $52.72 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline rose 4 cents to $1.62 a gallon. Heating oil rose 4 cents to $1.62 a gallon. Natural gas fell 4 cents to $2.89 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Beauty products company Estee Lauder jumped 7.7% to $105.92 after its quarterly results beat expectations. It also gave strong forecasts for this fiscal year.

Bond prices finished around where they started. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note stayed at 2.19%.

Early in the day, gold rose to its highest price since before the November presidential election, but it finished down 80 cents at $1,291.60 an ounce. Silver fell 5 cents to $17 an ounce. Copper stayed at $2.94 a pound.

The dollar fell to 109.26 yen from 109.67 yen. The euro rose to $1.1760 from $1.1742.