Stocks came into the day poised for a weekly advance, but a sharp selloff Friday reversed those fortunes as the S&P, Dow and Nasdaq all ended lower on the week. Poor economic data in China and Europe along with a sharp decline in Dow member Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) were all contributors to the market's decline, which worsened heading into the final hours of week.

ECONOMIC EVENTS:

In the U.S.:

• Retail sales rose 0.2% overall in November, which was better than the 0.1% growth forecast
• Retail sales excluding autos, gas, and building materials were up 0.6%
• Industrial production climbed 0.6% in November following a 0.2% decline in October and capacity utilization improved to 78.5% from 78.1% previously
• Markit's flash manufacturing PMI fell 1.4 points to 53.9 in December, hitting its lowest level since November 2017
• Markit's preliminary services PMI slid 1.3 points to 53.4
• Business inventories rose 0.6% in October with sales up 0.3%, as expected
• Baker Hughes reported that the U.S. rig count is down 4 rigs from last week to 1,071

In China:

• Retail sales rose 8.1% during November, down from 8.6% growth in the prior month and marking the slowest pace of growth in fifteen years
• Industrial production rose 5.4% in November, below the 5.9% growth that was expected

In Europe:

• Flash PMIs for December fell short of expectations, with manufacturing at 51.4 versus the consensus forecast of 51.8 and a services reading of 51.4 that missed the 53.4 consensus
• Eurozone auto registrations for November were down 8%, a bit worse than the 7.3% decline posted in October

COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) dropped 10% after Reuters, which examined documents and deposition and trial testimony, reported that the company was aware that its raw talc and finished powders sometimes tested positive for small amounts of asbestos and that they "fretted" over the problem and how to address it while failing to disclose it to regulators or the public. In response to the report, J&J issued a statement saying the article is "one-sided, false, and inflammatory." The company also claimed in the statement that its baby powder is "safe and asbestos-free."

Starbucks (SBUX) shares fell 2.35% after the company held its investor day meeting yesterday. Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh says the headline from Starbucks' event was a "trimmed" long-term earnings growth algorithm of "at least 10%," down from the prior up 12%. JPMorgan analyst John Ivankoe believes Starbucks laid out a "moderated, realistic plan," adding that improved visibility into U.S. comp improvement can allow Starbucks to sustain a premium multiple.

Wells Fargo analyst Edward Kelly lowered his price target for Costco (COST), saying the company delivered "another somewhat disappointing quarter" as it "once again failed to capitalize on its significant comp sales performance." At the close, Costco shares had slipped 8.6% on the heels of the company's earnings report. Also lower following its earnings report last night was Adobe (ADBE), which declined 7.3%.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that T-Mobile (TMUS) and Sprint (S) expect that their proposed tie-up will be approved by a U.S. national security panel as soon as next week, after their respective parent companies - Deutsche Telekom (DTEGY) and SoftBank (SFTBF) - said they would mull curbing their use of equipment from China's Huawei.

MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Belmond (BEL), which surged 39.8% in New York after it agreed to be acquired by LVMH (LVMUY) for $25 per Class A share in cash. Also higher was XPO Logistics (XPO), which rose 16.3% after issuing a response to a short-seller report last night, calling the claims "intentionally misleading, with significant inaccuracies," and announcing this morning that its board authorized the repurchase up to $1B of its common stock.

Among the notable losers was YRC Worldwide (YRCW), which dropped 28.4% after the U.S. Justice Department filed a complaint against several freight companies, including YRC Freight, claiming that the companies systematically overcharged the government for freight carrier services and made false statements to the government that hid their misconduct. Also lower was Coeur Mining (CDE), which fell 5.9% after announcing the retirement of CFO Peter Mitchell.

INDEXES: The Dow fell 496.87, or 2.02%, to 24,100.51, the Nasdaq lost 159.67, or 2.26%, to 6,910.66, and the S&P 500 declined 50.49, or 1.9%, to 2,600.01.