US Stocks

Major stock indexes fell for a third straight week as worries about the Greek debt situation percolated and troubling profit reports from Gap and Aeropostale prompted concerns about consumer spending.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 93.28 points, or 0.74%, to 12512.04. Alcoa led the blue-chip index lower, dropping 41 cents, or 2.5%, to $16.26, while J.P. Morgan Chase declined 87 cents, or 1.98%, to 43.13. The financial and industrial sectors dragged the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index down 10.33 points, or 0.77%, to 1333.27. The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite declined 19.99 points, or 0.71%, to 2803.32, snapping a three day winning streak.

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For the week, the Dow dropped 0.7% and the S&P 500 edged 0.4% lower, marking the third consecutive week of declines and the longest losing streak for each index since August. The Dow is down 2.3% over the three weeks. Friday's losses followed two days of gains for the Dow and S&P 500. The frenzy surrounding LinkedIn's initial public offering Thursday spurred hopes that future IPOs would lure more investors into risky assets. LinkedIn, which more than doubled Thursday on its debut, closed down 1.16, or 1.2%, at 93.09. It had risen as much as 14% earlier in Friday's session. Trading remained light Friday as a lack of U.S. economic data prompted some investors to take cautious positions heading into the weekend. Friday's declines occurred as Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece's credit ratings three notches, citing the scale of the country's challenge in securing solvency.

European Stocks

European stocks fell Friday and posted a loss for the week, as Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece's credit rating, rekindling euro-zone debt worries. The Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped 0.1% to end at 279.65. For the week, it dropped 0.3%. Equities in Greece, Spain and Italy fell sharply after Fitch cut Greece's rating to B-plus from BB-plus, citing "the scale of the challenge" facing the nation in implementing reforms to secure its solvency. In Athens, the ASE Composite dropped 1.9%. Shares of gambling firm OPAP fell 4.3% and those of National Bank of Greece fell 2.3%.

In Italy, the FTSE MIB index closed down 1.5%, as banking stocks slumped. UniCredit SpA fell 3.8% and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA dropped 3.6%. Spain's IBEX 35 index fell 1.5%, as shares of Banco Santander dropped nearly 2%. In London, the FTSE 100 index slipped 0.1% to 5,948.49, as shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC dropped 2.9% after being downgraded to neutral from buy at Goldman Sachs.

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Shares of BP PLC gained 2.7% after the oil giant said it's reached a settlement with Moex Offshore 2007 LLC, which had a 10% interest in the Macondo oil well. BP said Moex will pay $1.065 billion after recognizing that the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico was the result of mistakes by multiple parties. The French CAC 40 index fell 0.9% to end at 3,990.85, with shares of Michelin down 1.7%.

The biggest climber in Paris was Technip SA, which rose 1.1%. It, along with Samsung Heavy Industries Co., will build a natural-gas facility for Royal Dutch Shell PLC. In Germany, the DAX 30 index dropped 1.2% to end at 7,266.82. Shares of industrial conglomerate Siemens AG fell 2.2% after an arbitration court ruled it should pay Areva SA EUR648 million plus interest because it didn't fully meet obligations in exiting a joint venture between the two companies.

Asian Stocks

Japanese stocks fell Friday as utilities declined on uncertainty over the future of the power sector, while Indian shares climbed as engineering major Larsen & Toubro Ltd. jumped for a second straight day after issuing a robust sales forecast. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average finished 0.1% lower, while Taiwan's Taiex gave up 0.6%. China's Shanghai Composite ended little changed, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index inched up 0.2% and India's Sensex rose 1.02%.

In Tokyo, there were concerns over the size of Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s compensation to those affected by radiation leaks from its earthquake and tsunami hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant, and over the loans owed by the utility to banks. Tepco itself ended 2.5% higher after a volatile session ahead of its annual results, but Tohoku Electric Power Co. lost 5.8%, and Chubu Electric Power Co. fell 4.7%. At the end of the day's trading, Tepco announced a record loss of Y1.25 trillion ($15.3 billion) for the year ended March 31, crushed by charges related to the ongoing nuclear crisis.

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Stocks in China ended little changed after moving within a narrow range during a choppy session. Rare earth sector plays climbed after Beijing announced it would expand export quotas for the materials, with Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare Earth Group Hi-Tech Co. jumping 6%. Uncertainty over China's economic outlook proved to be an overhang on many other shares, including some in the property and automobile sectors. Shares of Gemdale Corp. fell 1.6%, while SAIC Motor Corp. shed 1.3%.

In Mumbai, shares of Larsen & Toubro rose 3.6% on top of the 5.9% jump Thursday, when the company posted a better than expected net profit for the fiscal fourth quarter and said it expects its sales to rise 25% in the current financial year that started on April 1.

Base Metals

Copper closed higher amid a mixed complex on the London Metal Exchange Friday, as signs of a brightening fundamental picture battled the negative influence of a weaker euro. While copper inventories in LME warehouses dropped 775 metric ton to 466,250 tons Thursday, copper stored at Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses fell to the lowest levels since September 2010, the ninth consecutive week of declines, according to the exchange. LME three-month copper closed Friday's open outcry session at $9,071 a metric ton, up 1.4% on the day.

Oil futures ended higher in volatile trading Friday, as buyers re-entered the market ahead of contract expiration and traders remain convinced that long-term crude demand is on the rise. Light, sweet crude for June delivery settled up $1.05, or 1.1%, to $99.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. With the contract expiring Friday, the more actively traded and more expensive July contract settled up $1.17, or 1.2%, at $100.10 a barrel.

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Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled up 97 cents, or 0.9%, to $112.39 a barrel. Gold settled above $1,500 for the first time in six trading days as investors sought a safe harbor from weaker equity markets and concerns about the euro.

The most actively traded gold contract, for June delivery, settled up $16.50, or 1.1%, at $1,508.90 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Thinly traded May-delivery gold ended up $16.60, or 1.1%, at $1,508.80 a troy ounce.

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