U.S. stocks closed mostly lower Friday, as investors considered economic data, energy costs, and a reduced 2014 earnings estimate from United Parcel Service (UPS). In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors said that existing-homes sales rose 2.4 percent to an annual rate of 5.04 million in December. In corporate news, enterprise-cloud supplier Box jumped in its first day as a publicly traded company. McDonald's declined after the fast-food chain reported a 7.3 percent decline in quarterly sales. Honeywell International gained after the industrial conglomerate tallied quarterly profit that exceeded expectations. UPS dropped after the shipper warned fourth-quarter profits would come in below expectations. The dollar strengthened against other global currencies. Light sweet crude oil for March delivery fell 72 cents to $45.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold futures dropped $8.10 to $1,292.60 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 141.38, or 0.79 percent, to 17,672.60. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 11.33, or 0.55 percent, to 2,051.82. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index added 7.48, or 0.16 percent, to 4,757.88.
