Weak growth, debt standoff hit US stocks

US stocks sank on Friday, weighed down by an unexpectedly negative report on the country's economic growth and nervousness over the debt-ceiling battle in Washington. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 98.61 points (0.81 per cent) to 12,141.50 in closing trade. It has now fallen for six consecutive trading days. The broader S&P 500 tumbled 8.44 points (0.65 per cent) to 1292.23, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 9.76 points (0.35 per cent) to stand at 2756.49. The Dow plunged more than 100 points in opening trade after the Government reported that US gross domestic product (GDP) grew just 1.3 per cent in the second quarter, a much slower pace than economists had expected. Notably, the Commerce Department also slashed its estimate for first-quarter GDP growth from 1.9 per cent to just 0.4 per cent. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. The stock markets later made up some ground, but they remained depressed as investors worried about the looming threat of a default by the US Government or a downgrade of the United States' credit rating. Only four days remain before a deadline set by the US Treasury for when it says it will stop being able to pay its bills unless Congress raises the Government's $US14.29 trillion ($13.02 trillion) borrowing limit.