Briefs for Saturday

The stock market closed out its worst week in more than two months Friday as a second straight day of turbulent trading ended with more losses.

The S&P 500 fell 0.8%, although the index did claw most of the way back from a 3.1% skid earlier in the day. A slide in technology stocks again did much of the damage.

The two-day sell-off came after the S&P 500 set new highs earlier in the week and had its best day in nearly two months.

The S&P 500 fell 28.10 points to 3,426.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 159.42 points, or 0.6%, to 28,133.31. The technology-heavy Nasdaq dropped 144.97 points, or 1.3%, to 11,313.13.

Quarter shortage hits casinos

Casinos have been swept up in the national coin shortage, leaving many gambling venues begging customers to bring in their piggy banks and jars of change.

The shortage started after the coronavirus pandemic forced many consumers to stay home, causing a dramatic slowing in the circulation of change. Banks, too, have sought to persuade customers to dig between their couch cushions.

The Fed says the shortage started after stores and bank branches shut their doors to stem the spread of COVID-19, leading to the coin-circulation problem. In response, the central bank has placed a temporary cap on the orders depository institutions can place for coins to ensure the supply is fairly distributed.

The U.S. Mint returned to full production in June, minting almost 1.6 billion coins that month, and is on track to produce 1.65 billion coins each month for the rest of the year.

From wire reports