U.S. stocks dropped on Friday in light, choppy trading as a steep fall in the dollar renewed inflation worries in a short session after the Thanksgiving holiday, but the losses were partly offset by mining shares, which rose after gold prices climbed, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, shares of retailers, including Target Corp., fell as investors worried about heavy discounting at the start of the holiday shopping season. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 46.78 points, or 0.38 percent, to end at 12,280.17. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 5.14 points, or 0.37 percent, to finish at 1,400.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 5.72 points, or 0.23 percent, to close at 2,460.26. For the week, the Dow fell 0.51 percent and the S&P 500 dipped 0.02 percent, but the Nasdaq gained 0.59 percent. Traders said the dollar's fall on Friday also made foreign investors more likely to sell U.S. stocks because the currency changes would hurt their profits. Shares of Meridian Gold Inc. jumped 4.1 percent, or $1.17, to $29.96 and shares of Newmont Mining gained 1.5 percent, or 67 cents, to $45.55, both on the New York Stock Exchange. The CBOE Gold Index rose 2.6 percent.
