US markets close lower but post 1Q gains

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - Wall Street closed lower Friday as banking stocks fell but major indexes managed to post gains for the first quarter.

The Dow ended the day down 65 points to 20,663 and the S&P 500 lost five points to close at 2,362.

The Nasdaq lost two points to finish the last trading day of the first quarter at 5,911.

Bank of America and Citigroup saw their shares decline by 1.2 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively, Friday.

The Dow fell 0.3 percent this week and lost 0.7 percent in March. It rose 4.6 percent for the quarter.

The S&P 500 finished up 0.8 percent for the week, lost 0.1 percent this month, but finished the first quarter with a 5.5 percent gain.

The Nasdaq added 1.4 percent this week, rose 1.5 percent in March, and increased almost 10 percent in the January-March period.