Stocks close up slightly in face of ‘fiscal cliff’ fears
ASSOCIATED PRESS November 9, 2012 8:26AM
FILE - In a Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks at the election night party at McCormick Place, in Chicago. President Barack Obama will make his first public comments Friday, Nov. 9, 2012 since the victory speech after his re-election, using his speech to set the tone for upcoming tense talks with congressional Republicans on avoiding the so-called "fiscal cliff" a combination of deep spending cuts and the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts that will take effect Jan. 1 and threaten to pull the country back into recession. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Updated: November 9, 2012 4:14PM
NEW YORK — The stock market is closing out one of its worst weeks this year as traders worried about the possibility that a divided Washington may not act in time to avert the “fiscal cliff” a series of tax increases and harsh spending cuts by the beginning of next year.
An early rally on Wall Street was mostly gone by the close Friday, leaving major indexes down more than 2 percent for the week.
The Dow Jones industrial average wound up with a gain of just under four points to close at 12,815. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged up two points at 1,380 and the Nasdaq rose nine to 2,904.
Falling stocks slightly outnumbered rising ones on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was slightly above the recent average at 3.6 billion shares.
