Stocks fall on GDP data, Goldman probe

Stocks suffered a big loss on the last day of April as investors showed their disappointment with two economic reports and worries about a criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs. But the major indexes still had their third straight monthly gain.

Investors lost some of their optimism about the economy Friday after the government's weaker-than-expected gross domestic product report and news of a drop in consumer sentiment. Reports that the government has started a criminal investigation of Goldman sent financial stocks tumbling.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 158.71 points, and all the major indexes fell more than 1 percent. The Dow fell 1.4 percent, to 11,008.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 20.09, or 1.7 percent, to 1,186.68, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 50.73, or 2 percent, to 2,461.19.

The Dow rose 1.4 percent for April, but it snapped an eight-week winning streak.

The market ratcheted higher and lower this week on alternating spurts of optimism and pessimism about the economy. The Dow had three triple-digit moves. But analysts have been expecting a pullback. - AP