AlHijjah 05, 1436, September 19, 2015, SPA -- U.S. stocks closed sharply lower Friday as investors weighed concerns over the implications of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) decision to keep short-term interest rates unchanged. In U.S. economic news, leading indicators for August rose 0.1 percent, below the expected 0.2 percent gain. In international economic news, the Shanghai Composite index closed up 0.42 percent, while Japan's Nikkei finished 1.96 percent lower. The dollar traded a touch higher against major world currencies, with the euro below $1.14 and the yen at 119.8 yen against the greenback. Light sweet crude oil for October delivery dropped $2.22 to $44.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold futures added $20.80 to $1,137.80 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 264, or 1.59 percent, to 16,406. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 27, or 1.38 percent, to 1,962. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 60, or 1.23 percent, to 4,834.
