US stocks edge lower in early afternoon trading as markets close out wild week of big swings


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U.S. stocks fell in early afternoon trading Friday, at the end of a volatile week for the market.

Stocks fell heavily in the first two days of trading this week on concerns about the health of China’s economy. The market then rebounded sharply over the next two days as investors decided the sell-off was overdone.

“People are taking a little bit of a pause,” said Paul Springmeyer, senior portfolio manager at the Private Client Reserve at U.S. Bank. “We’re finally winding down here where maybe we’re seeing more rational behavior.”

 The Dow Jones industrial average fell 65 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,589 as of 1:55 p.m. Eastern time Friday.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped six points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,981. The Nasdaq composite fell five points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,807.

Despite recovering their losses from earlier in the week, stocks are still on course for their worst monthly performance in more than three years. The S&P 500 is down 5.6 percent in August, and the Dow is down 5.8 percent.

http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2015/08/28/asian-stocks-extend-global-rally-on-upbeat-us-growth-data

Pending home sales edge up in July


Pending home sales rose 0.5% in July after an upward revision to June’s numbers, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. The pending home sales index was 7.4% above July 2014 levels. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR, said the data bodes well for existing sales to maintain their recent elevated pace, as he forecasts a 7.1% gain for 2015 existing home sales to 5.29 million homes and a median price rise of 6.3%.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pending-home-sales-edge-up-in-july-2015-08-27?siteid=yhoof2