U.S. stocks closed lower Friday, weighed by renewed global growth concerns as benchmark yields fell to record lows and investors looked ahead to U.K. vote on whether to leave the European Union.
"I think some of this today is "Brexit," some of it is global growth concerns, some of it's the Fed," said John Canally, chief economic strategist at LPL Financial.
"Clearly the "Brexit" vote has not been priced in until the last couple of days," he said.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed about 120 points lower after earlier falling 172 points. Goldman Sachs had the greatest negative impact on the index as most constituents declined.
U.S. stocks fell to session lows after a new poll from The Independentshowed the "leave" camp rose to 55 percent of respondents, versus 45 percent who favored staying in the European Union. That marked the largest portion of respondents who favored exiting since research firm ORB began polling the issue for it last year, the publication said.
"It hit the market," said Andres Jaime, global FX and rates strategist at Barclays. The euro and sterling both fell to session lows against the U.S. dollar amid the early afternoon release of the poll results.
"This poll in particular, it has nothing specific compared to the others. It is just the most recent one and we're approaching the event," he said.
The Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet next week, while the U.K. is set to vote the following week on June 23 on whether to leave the European Union.
The major European averages were down more than 2 percent, with the DAX off 2.5 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 Banks index more than 3.5 percent lower.
The German 10-year bund yield hit a fresh all-time low of 0.011 percent Friday, down sharply from Monday's levels of around 0.070 percent. The Japanese 10-year yield hit a record negative low of minus 0.13 percent.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield hit 1.627 percent, its lowest since Feb. 11, and was last trading near 1.64 percent. The 2-year yield was near 0.73 percent, its lowest since May 12.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed 119.85 points lower, or 0.67 percent, at 17,865.34, with Goldman Sachs leading decliners and Verizon leading gainers.
The index fell 0.67 percent for the week, with Goldman Sachs the worst performer and Verizon the best.
The S&P 500 closed down 19.41 points, or 0.92 percent, at 2,096.07, with energy and financials leading eight sectors lower and telecoms and consumer staples the only gainers.
The S&P lost 0.92 percent for the week, with financials the worst performer and telecoms the best.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, rose above 17 for the first time since mid-May.
Reference: CNBC
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