U.S. stocks finished lower on Friday, after three days of gains, as mixed results of corporate news were reported and ongoing debt problems in Europe worried investors. In world markets, European stocks ended lower, with the declines led by the CAC 40 in France falling 2 percent. Asian market ended mixed, as the Nikkei in Japan fell 1.4 percent and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.4 percent. Investors worried over signs of weakness in the broader economy and Europe's remaining debt crisis. Eurozone finance ministers met Friday, and finalized the terms of the first part of an aid fund for Spanish banks, but the deal provided little relief from investors. In U.S. economic news, unemployment rates rose in 27 U.S. states last month, the most in almost a year and a reflection of weaker hiring nationwide, the Labor Department reported. The department said that unemployment rates fell in 11 states and Washington-the fewest since August. Rates were unchanged in 12 states. In U.S. company news, General Electric Company (GE) was one of the top gainer on the Dow Jones, after the company reported earnings ahead of the opening bell that topped estimates, despite weaker-than-expected revenue. The U.S. dollar rose against the euro and fell against the yen. Light sweet crude oil for August delivery fell $1.22 cents to $91.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $2.40 to $1,582.80 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 120.79, or 0.9 percent, to 12,822.57. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 13.85, or 1.0 percent, to 1,362.66. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 40.60, or 1.4 percent, to 2,925.30.
