No Miracle on Wall Street

Updated from 4:10 p.m. EST

Christmas spirit was in short supply in New York on Friday, and stocks finished to the downside ahead of a long holiday weekend and the last trading week of 2006.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 78.03 points, or 0.63%, to 12,343.22, and the S&P 500 was off 7.54 points, or 0.53%, at 1410.76. The Nasdaq Composite fell 14.67 points, or 0.61%, to 2401.18.

Ken Tower, chief market strategist with CyberTrader, argues that while the market's behavior represents a threat to the bull case, there's not a reason for panic.

"The Nasdaq is at the bottom of its trading range, but hasn't broken down," Tower said. "The longer-term trend is still up and I think you have to give the bulls a lot of leeway here."

For the week, the Dow surrendered 102 points, or 0.8%, snapping a two-week winning streak. The S&P 500 was lower by 16 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq relinquished 56 points, or 2.3%, over the five sessions.

Volume was light on the final trading session before the Christmas holiday, which will keep markets closed on Monday. On the New York Stock Exchange, roughly 1.69 billion shares changed hands, with decliners beating advancers by a 5-to-3 margin. Just 1.36 shares were swapped on the Nasdaq, where losers outpaced winners 8 to 7.