US markets ended the month of May with big losses, with the Dow and S&P 500 posting their worst one-day drops since mid-April, but major averages still logged monthly gains. The Dow rallied 1.86 percent, the S&P 500 jumped 2.08 percent, and the Nasdaq soared 3.82 percent for the month of May. The CBOE volatility index soared above 16.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 208.96 points to close at 15,115.57. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 23.67 points to 1,630.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 35.38 points to 3,455.91.
On the economic data front, consumer sentiment hit its highest level in nearly six years in May rising to 84.5 from 76.4 in April. But consumer spending fell 0.2 percent in April for the first time in almost a year.
In Europe, markets closed lower on disappointing German and Italian data. Data for Italy showed its unemployment rate climbed to a worse-than expected 12 percent in April. In addition, youth unemployment rose to a record of 40.5 percent. Retail sales data for Germany also disappointed, showing a 0.4 percent dip in April month-on-month, when analysts had expected a 0.2 percent increase.
In the currency space, the euro was flat at 1.29 to the dollar. The dollar index stood at the 83.20 mark. The volatility in the Indian currency continues as it ended trade at 56.50 to the dollar on Friday after slipping to 11-month lows.
In commodities, Brent crude slipped sharply below USD 100 level on tepid demand and a weak economic outlook. From precious metals space, gold hovers around USD 1394 an ounce.
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