Stock prices succumb to a late slide on Wall Street, but still end higher for May

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Stock prices closing sharply lower on Wall Street after a late afternoon sell-off.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 208 points at 15,115 Friday, a loss of 1.4 per cent. Pfizer led the Dow lower.

The Dow held on to a gain of 1.9 per cent for May and is still up 15 per cent so far this year.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 23 points to 1,630, a decline of 1.4 per cent. The Nasdaq fell 35 points to 3,455, a decline of 1 per cent.

The declines were broad. All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 fell, led by health care and energy stocks.

Five stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was heavier than usual at 3.9 billion shares.