KB Home (NYSE:KBH), Ryland Group (NYSE:RYL) and MDC Holdings (NYSE:MDC), Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY), PHLX (Nasdaq:HGX) Down as Homebuilding Remains Under Heavy Pressure

The market did little to inspire today, and the homebuilding sector continues to be punished, with KB Home (NYSE:KBH), Ryland Group (NYSE:RYL) and MDC Holdings (NYSE:MDC) and Weyerhaeuser (NYSE:WY) all down, and the PHLX housing index (Nasdaq:HGX) falling.

Rising oil prices and tumbling bank shares dragged Wall Street lower on Friday, with stocks surrendering the previous session's hefty gains.

Brent crude prices hovered near $116 a barrel as Libyan security forces began a violent crackdown on protesters in Tripoli and clashed with rebels near a major oil terminal.

Data earlier in the week had raised expectations about Friday's employment report, lifting stocks to their biggest gains in three months on Thursday. But after Friday's report showed February job gains roughly in line with expectations, investors quickly turned their focus to rising oil prices and Libyan unrest.

"The (market) battle is: has the economy turned in a permanent way, or are higher oil prices going to slow everything down," said Bernie McGinn, president at McGinn Investment Management in Alexandria, Virginia.

The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI:DJI) lost 147.66 points, or 1.20 percent, to 12,110.54. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX) fell 15.40 points, or 1.16 percent, to 1,315.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index (Nasdaq:IXIC) dropped 24.70 points, or 0.88 percent, to 2,774.04.




Full Story