By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch , Ryan Vlastelica

Financials slump, but Adobe rises after earnings

U.S. stocks were slightly lower on Friday as investors monitored a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers in Germany, which could provide some insight into the current status of geopolitical issues, though major indexes were on track for another week of gains.

Investors are also watching for news from the meeting in Washington between President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, postponed from earlier in the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 13 points to 20,922, while the S&P 500 dipped 2 points to 2,379 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 8 points, trading at 5,893.

All three were down less than 0.1% on the day and that was enough to protect their weekly gains. The S&P 500 is on track for a 0.4% weekly advance, while the Dow is up less than 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite eyed a 0.7% gain, with the outsize move coming from strong performance by technology stocks during the week.

Equities have been in an uptrend of late. Both the S&P and the Nasdaq are set to post their seventh weekly gain of the past eight weeks, while the Dow is set for its fifth weekly advance of the past six weeks.

Index losses Friday were primarily due to the financial sector (XLF), which dropped 0.9% on the day. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) lost 1.3% while Morgan Stanley(MS) was off 1.3%. Otherwise stocks were mostly positive, with eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors higher on the day.

Finance ministers from industrialized and emerging-market economies are gathering in Baden-Baden for a G-20 meeting, the first for new U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The U.S. finance chief is expected put pressure on other countries to boost the value of their currencies, given Trump's push for a weaker dollar, while the Trump administration's protectionist policies are also a focus.

Read:Trump's dollar paradox could fuel trade tensions at G-20 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trumps-dollar-paradox-could-fuel-trade-tensions-at-g-20-2017-03-17)

"This is the first time that global leaders are interacting with the Trump administration on a large scale, and you have to expect the market will be quiet ahead of a major question mark like that," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive officer at 50 Park Investments.

"So far Trump has gotten the benefit of the doubt from foreign leaders, so there's a high likelihood that we come out of this with a positive framework, but there's no question that we're in a period with lofty valuations and stretched positive sentiment," he said. "The cards are shaping up for a climatic run marked by panic buying, rather than panic selling, which is a sign you're in the late stage of a bull market."

Germany is one of the countries seen by Trump as having an unfair trade advantage. The country's leader, Merkel, is scheduled to visit Trump in the White House Friday, in a meeting postponed from earlier in the week due to the East Coast snowstorm Tuesday. Russia and immigration, as well as trade, are seen as likely topics on the agenda.

In the latest economic data, industrial production was flat (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/industrial-output-flat-in-february-held-down-by-utility-production-2017-03-17) in February, below expectations for a rise of 0.3%. Separately, the index of consumer sentiment (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-sentiment-still-running-high--except-among-democrats-2017-03-17) rose to 97.6 in March from 96.3 in February, based on a preliminary reading by the University Michigan. This was slightly below the reading of 98 that had been expected.

The Conference Board said its leading economic index (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/leading-indicators-reach-highest-level-in-a-decade-2017-03-17) rose 0.6% in February -- the third straight gain of that magnitude -- to reach its highest level in more than a decade.

Trading on Friday could be more volatile than usual due to so-called quadruple witching, as stock-index futures, stock-index options, stock options and individual stock futures all expire on the same day.

Read:Worlds will collide when the cautious Merkel meets the impetuous Trump (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/worlds-will-collide-when-the-cautious-merkel-meets-the-impetuous-trump-2017-03-13)

See:

Stock movers: Shares of Adobe Systems Inc.(ADBE) jumped 5.8% after the software company late Thursday reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/adobe-shares-rise-as-earnings-beat-expectations-2017-03-16).

High-end jeweler Tiffany & Co.(TIF) jumped 2.4% after it reported better-than-expected earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tiffanys-stock-climbs-after-profit-beat-upbeat-outlook-2017-03-17) and gave an upbeat outlook.

Other markets:Asian stock markets closed mixed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-largely-retreat-ahead-of-g-20-meeting-2017-03-16) ahead of the G-20 meeting.

Stocks in Europe were also mixed, with the Stoxx Europe 600 struggling to hold on to its more-than-one-year high logged on Thursday.

Oil rose 0.5% on the day while gold rose 0.3%.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 17, 2017 11:38 ET (15:38 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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