U.S. stocks closed down Friday, as investors brace for a potential shift in Federal Reserve (Fed) policy. In U.S. economic news, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that it expects U.S. economic growth to slow this year due largely to budget cuts in Washington. The IMF anticipates the Fed will continue buying assets until the end of the year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said producer prices increased 0.5 percent in May, driven largely by food and energy prices. The measure of prices for unfinished goods, excluding food and energy, fell 0.4 percent. Separately, the Fed said industrial production was unchanged in May after falling in April. The University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters said the initial reading of the June consumer sentiment index fell to 82.7 from 84.5 in May, when the index hit its highest level in nearly 6 years. In corporate news, Smithfield Foods said earnings fell 69 percent to $29.7 million, or 21 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 28. The meat producer blamed high grain prices due to last year's drought, which pushed up the cost of hog production. Smithfield announced last month that it was being bought by Chinese meat producer Shuanghui International. Smith & Wesson shares rose after the gun maker released preliminary results showing record quarterly and full-year sales and earnings. Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded SolarCity, sending shares of the Elon Musk-backed alternative energy company higher. Shares of Monster Beverage fell following a report that the American Medical Association could consider backing a ban on advertising energy drinks. The dollar lost ground against the euro, the pound, and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for July delivery gained $1.16 to $97.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures were unchanged at $1,377.80 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 68.58, or 0.45 percent, to 15,107.50. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 6.27, or 0.38 percent, to 1,630.09. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 21.81, or 0.63 percent, to 3,428.63.
