Worries about Europe and Korea again drag down stocks
Investors were also watching Black Friday sales, but stock markets closed early, before a solid answer could come in.
NEW YORK - Stocks sank during Friday's shortened session as jittery traders were afraid to commit to any holdings ahead of the weekend amid lingering uncertainty surrounding Europe's debt troubles and North Korea's war threats.
European stock markets and the euro fell as worries mounted that Portugal would be the next country to need cash from other European Union countries, even as details of Ireland's bailout were being worked out.
Portugal adopted a raft of debt-reducing austerity measures, which the government said would be enough to restore market confidence in its public finances without resorting to a bailout.
However, that did not soothe traders who are also nervously eyeing North Korea's threat of war, which could destabilize its neighboring Asian nations. North Korea warned Friday that plans by South Korea and the United States to stage military maneuvers have put the Korean peninsula on the brink of war. North Korea fired artillery shells at a South Korean island on Tuesday, killing four people.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 95.28, or 0.9 percent, to 11,092. The S&P 500 index was down 8.95, or 0.8 percent, to 1,189.40. The Nasdaq composite index fell 8.56, or 0.3 percent, to 2,534.56.
The 16-nation euro fell to $1.3244 in midday trading Friday from $1.3368 late Thursday, earlier dipping below $1.32 for the first time since Sept. 21. The Euro Stoxx 50, which tracks the shares of blue-chip companies in countries that use the euro, slipped 0.7 percent.
Consolidated volume on the New York Stock Exchange was 1.5 billion, which was just about a third of the usual volume. Trading desks were thinly staffed on the day after Thanksgiving. Falling shares outpaced rising ones by 2-1 on the New York Stock Exchange. U.S. stock markets closed at 1 p.m. Friday instead of the usual 4 p.m. Markets were closed Thursday for the holiday.
Friday also marked the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. Black Friday, a crucial event for retailers, was off to a strong start, according to early reports.
Many stores pushed more exclusive deals online Thursday in a bid to rope in shoppers before Black Friday. It apparently worked. According to IBM's Coremetrics, online sales soared 33 percent on the holiday compared with Thanksgiving 2009.
Macy's Inc. shares were up 11 cents to $26.
Overall, stocks ended the week mixed. The Dow finished 112 points lower, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 10. However, the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 17 points for the week.