Stocks ended the week on Friday weighed down by a disappointing reading on U.S. economic growth in the first quarter, ending a five-day winning streak for the U.S. benchmark index.
The S&P 500 closed at 1,582.24, down 2.92 points or 0.2 per cent. At least the broad index showed a gain of 1.7 per cent for the week, after falling 2.1 per cent in the previous week for its worst setback of the year.
The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average closed at 14,712.55, up 11.75 points or less than 0.1 per cent. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed at 12,220.20, down 109.31 points or 0.9 per cent.
The moves follow a report from the Commerce Department showing that U.S. gross domestic product expanded just 2.5 per cent in the first quarter. That's below economists' expectations for growth of 3 per cent and suggests that the United States is mired in sub-par performance.
As well, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey slipped to a three-month low.
Amazon.com Inc. fell 7.2 per cent after its forecast for second-quarter earnings trailed projections.
However, J.C. Penney Co. Inc. jumped 11.6 per cent after billionaire investor George Soros disclosed his investment in the struggling retailer.
Among commodities, gold fell to $1,453 (U.S.) an ounce, down $8.80. Crude oil fell to $92.95 a barrel, down 69 cents.
Among Canadian commodity producers, Suncor Energy Inc. fell 1.1 per cent and Barrick Gold Corp. fell 3.3 per cent.
TransCanada Corp. fell 0.8 per cent after it said that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline likely wouldn't be operational until the second half of 2015, and would cost more than earlier estimates.
David Berman