NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks declined Friday, and chalked up losses for the week, driven by investors' uncertainty about when the U.S. economy might see growth as the war with Iraq appeared to be winding down.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 17.92 to 8203.41, Charts) lost 0.2 percent, while the Nasdaq composite (down 6.76 to 1358.85, Charts) slipped 0.5 percent and the S&P 500 index (down 3.28 to 868.30, Charts) dipped 0.4 percent.

Despite several short-lived rallies, investor uncertainty crept back into stock trading -- leading all three markets lower for the week. The Dow fell 0.9 percent for the week, while the Nasdaq tipped 1.8 percent lower. The S&P 500 dropped 1.2 percent.

The Nasdaq remains in positive territory for the year so far, but the Dow and the S&P have each logged declines since the start of 2003.

"It's a bit of a disappointment how we're trading today," said Peter Green, market analyst at MKM Partners. "It suggests to me that the market needs to do more backing and filling. We're not getting that type of follow-through you like to see. There just doesn't seem to be much conviction right now."

After dealing with indications this week that the war with Iraq would come to a swift and victorious end for U.S. troops, investors shifted some of their focus back to economic conditions at home. Early in the session Friday, reports on consumer sentiment and retail sales incited a brief rally, but lingering discomfort with corporate earnings and the state of the economy once again rattled buyers.

Investors will have a lot to consider next week, as thoughts of Saddam Hussein and the war likely will get pushed further away from the forefront. The first strong blast of earnings will start next week, including readings from several financial institutions including Merrill Lynch (MER: Research, Estimates) and J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM: Research, Estimates).

IBM (IBM: Research, Estimates), Apple (APPL: Research, Estimates), General Motors (GM: Research, Estimates), Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates), Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ: Research, Estimates), Coca-Cola (KO: Research, Estimates) and PepsiCo (PEP: Research, Estimates) are among the other companies scheduled to report quarterly results next week.

There will also be several economic reports to consider. Investors will get updates on the state of business inventories, manufacturing activity via the Federal Reserve and the Philadelphia Fed, industrial production and capacity utilization, consumer prices and housing starts.

Initially, investors cheered some positive reports Friday, but their excitement quickly waned on uncertainty about the stability of the economy.

The University of Michigan said its preliminary reading on consumer sentiment in April showed the index rose to 83.2 from 77.6 in March. Economists surveyed by Reuters expected the index to rise to 78.1.

Also encouraging to investors, the Commerce Department said retail sales rose 2.1 percent in March after a 1.7 percent drop in February. The reading was much better than the 0.6 percent rise expected by a group of economists polled by Reuters. Minus autos, sales rose 1.1 percent, compared with an expected 0.4 percent gain. The reading rose from a revised 0.6 percent drop in February.

Separately, the Labor Department said wholesale prices rose 1.5 percent in March after gaining 1 percent in February. Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected a 0.4 percent rise. Without volatile food and energy costs, so-called core producer prices rose by 0.7 percent; economists expected them to come in flat.

"This is the first evidence that things might be better than they thought, and I think traders don't quite know what to do," said Phil Dow, director of equity research at RBC DainRauscher. "I think we've been conditioned to bad news -- it's like a beaten-up prize fighter. I think it's a dangerous time to look for more of the same, meaning looking for more negative."

Investors have been pounded with weak economic reports for several months now, but the numbers have been consistently shrugged off as all eyes focused on the war in Iraq and, before that, the uncertainty leading up to the war.

The consensus in the market was that once the war ended, consumers and corporations would fear spending less and, eventually, the economy would see growth once again. But when that might happen is subject to debate. The consumer sentiment and retail sales reports Friday temporarily raised investors' hopes for a quick turnaround, but traders have said that negative news will likely lag well into the second quarter.

And so far, more corporations have warned on their first-quarter results than companies that have said their earnings would be better than expected by nearly a 3-to-1 margin.

Shares of Dow component General Electric (GE: down $0.02 to $27.36, Research, Estimates) ended slightly lower after the company posted first-quarter results that were in line with economists' forecasts and said it was comfortable with profit estimates for the full year.

Boeing (BA: down $0.62 to $26.47, Research, Estimates) was among the Dow's top decliners. The aircraft maker said it would take a $1.2 billion charge for its first quarter to reflect the severe downturn in the commercial aviation and space industries.

Meanwhile in Iraq, coalition forces continued to secure areas where pockets of resistance remain. Air strikes targeted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, which the allies consider the remaining "stronghold" of the regime.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, decliners edged past advancers on volume of 1.1 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, losers edged past winners by an 8-to-7 margin as 1.2 billion shares changed hands.

Treasury prices slipped. The 10-year note fell 7/32 of a point in price, its yield rising to 3.97 percent. The dollar gained against the yen and euro.

Light crude oil for June delivery turned higher, rising 37 cents to $27.11 a barrel in New York. Gold for June delivery rose $1.20 an ounce to $328.50.

European markets closed on the upside, while Asian-Pacific stocks also finished mostly higher overnight.