Stocks Close Week With Pre-Holiday Declines

Updated from 3:27 p.m. EDT

Stocks in the U.S. were buried Friday as investors dealt with a resuming climb in oil and abysmal home-sales numbers, while unwinding their positions ahead of a long holiday weekend.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 146 points, or 1.2%, to 12,480, and the S&P 500 gave up 18 points, or 1.3%, at 1376. The Nasdaq Composite sank 20 points, or 0.8%, to 2445.

"This week was not terrific, so I think investors are looking to take money off the table ahead of the three-day weekend," said Paul Nolte, director of investments with Hinsdale Associates. U.S. markets will be closed Monday in observance of Memorial Day.

"It's sell now and ask questions later," he said.

Earlier in the week, stocks were crushed in a huge two-day selloff as investors were jarred by new highs in oil and gloomy economic forecasts by the Federal Reserve. The major indices attempted a halting recovery on Thursday, but the session saw rather thin trading volume.

"We are seeing a little bit of a different dynamic in the market," said Nolte. "We're seeing more volume now on the market declines than on those advancing days, and certainly over the last four months or so, volume had been better on the advancing days."

That shift, he added, is not a good sign.

"The reality is, expectations probably got out of line in April," said Jason Pride, director of research with Haverford Investments. "And now everybody that that hopped back in, thinking everything was okay, now they're backing off a little bit. It's this manic mood that the market seems to have. We go back and forth on it in dramatic swings, when the reality is, not much has changed. It's only the perception that's different."

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