NEW YORK — U.S. stocks closed sharply lower Friday, capping a third straight week of losses for two major stock indexes, as concerns over debt-stretched European governments fueled volatility on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 93.28 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,512.04, with a late-session skid causing the average to close near its session low.
All but two of the Dow’s components ended down, with a 2.5 percent loss in Alcoa Inc. and a 2 percent drop in JPMorgan Chase & Co. shares leading declines. For the week, the Dow lost 0.7 percent, its third drop in a row.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 shed 10.33 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,333.27. A 1.5 percent drop in financial stocks led losses among all 10 industry groups. For the week, the index of large-cap U.S. stocks fell 0.3 percent, also its third consecutive loss.
The Nasdaq composite index dropped 19.99 points, or 0.7 percent, to 2,803.32, down 0.9 percent from the previous Friday’s close.
Investors for much of the past week have grappled with news reports suggesting that Greek and Spanish government debt problems are far from resolution and that European leaders are at odds on how to solve them.
“Headlines around the debate between Germany and the European Central Bank over a soft restructuring have only reminded investors that the risks surrounding European sovereign debt are still very real,” said Joseph Tanious, market strategist at JPMorgan Funds.
And, while first-quarter earnings were strong, the current dearth of corporate results has left investors with little else to fixate on other than economic data, which have been weak recently, the strategist said.
“We can debate the pace of economic growth, but the economy is healing, and as a result of that, we remain constructive,” Tanious said. “The absence of significant corporate news has increased volatility in the short run, but we remain constructive on risk assets in the longer term, because of the attractive valuations and strong fundamentals.”
