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 will be the next country to need cash from other European Union countries, even as details of Ireland’s bailout were being worked out.
On Friday, Portugal adopted debt-reducing austerity measures, which the government claimed would be enough to restore market confidence in its public finances without resorting to a bailout.
However, that didn’t 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 U.S. to stage military maneuvers have put the Korean peninsula on the brink of war. North Korea fired artillery shells at a South Korean island Tuesday, killing four people.
The Dow Jones industrialaverage 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.
“Until there’s final resolution of both Spain and Portugal, investors will continue to be fearful,” said John O’Donoghue, co-head of equities at Cowen & Co.
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 ofblue chip companies in countries that use the euro, slipped 0.7 percent.
Consolidated volume on the New York Stock Exchange of 1.48 billion shares was about half of the usual volume as trading desks were thinly staffed on the day after Thanksgiving. Falling shares outpaced rising ones by a 2-to-1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange. U.S. stock markets closed at noon Friday instead of the usual 3 p.m. Markets were closed Thanksgiving.
Friday also marked the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season.
Many stores pushed more exclusive deals online Thursday in a bid to rope in shoppers even earlier. It apparently worked. According to IBM’s Coremetrics, online sales soared 33 percent Thursday compared with Thanksgiving 2009.
Sales during the Thanksgiving weekend made up 12.3 percent of all Thanksgiving and Christmas season revenue last year, according to research firm ShopperTrak. Black Friday accounted for half of that.
Macy’s Inc. shares were up 11 cents to $26.
It was the end of a rollercoaster week. Stocks fell Tuesday after North Korea’s shelling but surged Wednesday after a batch of economic reports buoyed hopes that the U.S. economic recovery was gaining strength.
The reports showed that Americans’ income rose and consumer spending climbed in October. And fewer people filed first-time claims for unemployment benefits last week.
Overall, stocks ended the week mixed. The Dow ended 112 points lower, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 10. However, the technologyheavy Nasdaq composite index gained 17 points for the week.
Business, Pages 32 on 11/27/2010