U.S. stocks fall on economic worries

NEW YORK, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. stocks rallied, then fell Friday as new concerns about bond issuers and continuing fear of a recession kept stock indexes down 4 percent for the week.

The slide could not be halted by positive news, such as robust showings by blue chip companies General Electric and IBM, and a $145 billion economic stimulus proposal outlined by U.S. President George Bush.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 59.91 points, or 0.49 percent, to close at 12,099.30.

The Nasdaq composite was down 6.88, or 0.29 percent, at 2,340.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 8.06, or 0.60 percent, at 1,325.19.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 1.7 billion shares traded, with 1,130 stocks up and 2,024 down.

Crude oil futures closed down 43 cents at $90.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile.

Bonds were mixed. The 2-year Treasury note was up 3/32, yielding 2.354 percent Friday.

The dollar was mixed. The euro traded at $1.4611 from $1.4657 late Thursday. The greenback changed hands at 106.64 yen from 106.68 yen late Thursday.

All major U.S. financial exchanges will be closed Monday for Martin Luther King Day.

Overseas, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closed up 0.57 percent at 13,861.29 and London's FTSE was up 1.3 percent at 5,978.40.

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