U.S. stocks closed lower Friday as crude's ongoing slide rattled investors. In U.S. economic news, wholesale prices declined 0.2 percent drop in the producer price index in November after a 0.2 percent rise the previous month. A measure of consumer sentiment in December exceeded expectations, rising to an eight-year high. In corporate news, Adobe Systems gained after the software maker said it would acquire stock-photo company Fotalia for $800 million and posted quarterly results that beat expectations. The dollar declined against the currencies of major U.S. trading partners. Light sweet crude oil for January delivery dropped $2.14 to $57.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, settling below $58 a barrel for the first time since May 2009. Gold futures fell $3.10 to $1,222.50 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 315.51, or 1.79 percent, to 17,280.83. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 33.00, or 1.62 percent, to 2,002.33. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 54.57, or 1.16 percent, to 4,653.60.
