Wall Street ends lower in feeble end to strong week

Wall Street ended lower on Friday in a feeble end to another week of strong gains after concerns about the timing of future interest rate hikes offset gains in materials and energy stocks.

The Commerce Department said gross domestic product expanded at a 1-percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, an upward revision from its previous estimate of 0.7 percent growth. The data exacerbated concerns that the US Federal Reserve could raise rates sooner rather than later. The economy grew at a rate of 2.0 percent in the third quarter.

Federal funds futures FFc1 implied traders see a 36-percent chance of the Fed raising rates in June and 53-percent chance in December, both above Thursday' s levels, according to CME Group' s FedWatch program.

Following a steep selloff in January and a partial recovery in the past two weeks, the S & P 500 is just above its 50-day moving average for a second session, which some traders believe is a sign of improving sentiment.

But investors, shell-shocked by months of volatility, remained cautious, with decade-low oil prices, rate hikes and a potential slowdown in China' s economy still very much on their minds.

" I think we' re near the top of the roller coaster again. All of the things that made the market go wild in January are still up in the air," said Brian Battle, director of trading at Performance Trust Capital Partners in Chicago.

In other U.S. data, consumer spending rose strongly in January, while underlying inflation picked up by the most in four years.

Read more......L i n k