MarketView for March 14

Summary

Wall Street was lower on Friday with all three major stock indexes down for the week, as concerns over tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalated ahead of a referendum in Crimea this weekend. The S&P 500 index ended below a key technical support level of 1,850 for the second day. The index also ended down 2 percent for the week, its biggest weekly loss since late January.

Moscow sent additional troops and armor into Crimea on Friday and repeated its threat to invade other parts of Ukraine in response to violence in Donetsk on Thursday night despite Western demands to pull back.

Global equity markets were pressured, while gold and the yen strengthened as investors moved to what many consider to be safe-haven assets. The CBOE Volatility index VIX . rose 9.9 percent to 17.82.

A key emerging market exchange-traded fund, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF was up 0.5 percent to $38.40 after falling nearly 2 percent in the previous session.

Following the recent selloff in emerging markets, some market participants believe now is the time to get into emerging market equities, but analysts are wary.

For the week, the Dow fell 2.35 percent, the S&P dropped 1.97 percent and the Nasdaq lost 2.1 percent.

In economic news, producer prices fell 0.1 percent in February, dragged down by falling costs for services, offering little sign of inflation pressures. Consumer sentiment fell in early March as an unusually harsh winter appeared to dim views on the economy's prospects.

General Mills was down 2.4 percent to $49.77. It forecast third-quarter earnings below Street expectations as it faces increased competition from store brands and spends more on marketing its yogurts.

Aeropostale was down 20.1 percent to $5.83. The teen apparel retailer reported its fifth straight quarterly loss. Cooper Tire & Rubber rose 6.7 percent to $24.36 after reporting fourth-quarter earnings ahead of Street estimates.

Approximately 6.7 billion shares changed hands on the major equity exchanges, according to BATS Global Markets, a number that was below the 6.9 billion share average so far this month.

Consumer Sentiment Down as are Producer Prices

Consumer sentiment weakened in early March as an unusually harsh winter appeared to dim views on the economy's prospects.

The preliminary Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment fell to 79.9 in March from 81.6 the prior month, a survey showed on Friday.

The Street had been expecting sentiment to improve. The concern is that the weak tone of the report could be a sign that severe weather had put consumers in the doldrums. That would back the view that the economy was only temporarily stuck in a soft patch and would resume stronger growth once the weather improves.

Parts of the United States have suffered colder-than-normal temperatures and blizzards over the winter, which may have contributed to several months of weak hiring. If weather is the culprit, then the Federal Reserve can feel more confident about continuing the winding down of a bond-buying stimulus program. The Fed started trimming monthly bond purchases in January.

The sentiment index was at its lowest level since November. It was largely dragged down by a dip in consumer expectations for future growth. There were some signs of strength in the report. Those polled expected the highest rate of annual income gains since November 2008.

A separate report from the Labor Department pointed in the opposite direction with regard to inflation, as a decline in U.S. producer prices in February suggested little building of inflationary pressure. The government's seasonally adjusted producer price index for final demand dropped 0.1 percent last month.

On its own, the price data would make policymakers feel more comfortable holding interest rates near zero for many more months. Inflation has held at a very low level in recent years because of a persistently high unemployment rate.

The value of the dollar slipped against the yen following the price data's publication, suggesting investors felt the report buttressed the view that the Fed would hold interest rates extremely low into next year.

Final demand for goods rose 0.4 percent in February. Final demand for services dropped 0.3 percent. The Labor Department said about 80 percent of the decline in its services index was due to lower margins for retailers of apparel, footwear and accessories.

In the 12 months through February, producer prices increased 0.9 percent, the smallest one-year gain since May 2013.

Producer prices excluding volatile food and energy costs fell 0.2 percent. Another gauge of core producer prices - final demand less foods, energy, and trade services - nudged up 0.1 percent.