U.S. stocks fell on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 logging the biggest monthly drops since May 2012, amid mixed economic data and ongoing worries on Syria.
The blue-chip Dow lost 30.64 points, or 0.21 percent, to 14,810. 31 points. The broader S&P 500 shed 5.20 points, or 0.32 percent, to 1,632.97 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 30.43 points, or 0.84 percent, to 3,589.87 points.
Personal income edged up 0.1 percent in July, following a 0.3- percent increase in June, the U.S. Commerce Department said. Personal consumption expenditures also rose 0.1 percent in July, in contrast to a revised 0.6-percent gain in June, the department added.
The fresh data came in below analysts' expectations. JP Morgan economist Daniel Silver said Friday that July's personal consumption expenditure added "fairly significant" downside risk to their third-quarter U.S. gross domestic product forecast.
Adding to the woes of the market, U.S. consumer sentiment fell in August from a six-year high in the prior month. The final reading of the consumer sentiment index stood at 82.1 in August, slightly better than the preliminary reading of 80, according to a joint survey released Friday by Thomson Reuters and University of Michigan.
Moreover, the Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index, considered as a leading indicator of the U.S. economy, increased to 53.0 in August from 52.3 in July, the Institute for Supply Management - Chicago said on Friday.
The market posted a volatile trading session on the last trading day of August, with investors fretting about a U.S. military strike before a long holiday weekend. U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday that he has not made a final decision in response to the alleged chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict.
For the week, the Dow lost 1.3 percent, notching a four-week losing streak. And the S&P 500 was down 1.8 percent, while the Nasdaq went down 1.9 percent.
For the month, the Dow decreased 4.4 percent, while the S&P dropped 3.1 percent. In addition, the Nasdaq edged down 1.0 percent in August.
In corporate news, shares of General Electric Company inched up 0.13 percent to 23.14 U.S. dollars after the conglomerate reportedly plans to spin off the U.S. consumer lending division of GE Capital, via an Initial Public Offerings.
