NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks slumped Friday, at the end of a tough week, in which signs of inflation in the surging oil prices, bond yields and economic news sent equities tumbling.

The Nasdaq composite (down 18.12 to 2,041.60, Charts) fell 0.9 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average (down 77.15 to 10,774.36, Charts) lost 0.7 percent and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (down 9.17 to 1,200.08, Charts) index fell around 0.75 percent.

An upbeat mid-quarter update from Intel late Thursday had little impact on a market worried about oil prices heading near all-time highs and bond yields rising.

"Intel gave us a good preview of the quarter, but oil suffocated the positive news," said William Hummer, principal at Wayne Hummer.

U.S. light crude oil for April delivery rose 89 cents to settle at $54.43 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after rising to just below all-time highs on Wednesday.

"Right now the price of oil is making people worried, but I think there is a limit to that," he added. "Oil will eventually have to come down, because the producers don't want it to stay this high and because the global economy is not strong enough to sustain demand at these levels for long."

Reflecting consumers' increased interest in imported goods, the trade gap, released early Friday, widened to $58.3 billion, greater than the $56.8 billion economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting and up from a revised $55.7 billion in December.

Investors have been particularly sensitive lately to economic news showing inflation or the likelihood that interest rates will need to rise. While the Federal Reserve has continually pledged to boost rates at a measured pace, there are worries that the pace will need to be quickened.

Over the long-term, inflation and higher interest rates slows economic growth, cuts into corporate profits and ultimately stock prices.

Next week is heavy on economic news, although there is little on tap for Monday. Retail sales figures for February are due Tuesday, as is a read on business inventories. Reports due later in the week include housing starts and building permits, industrial production and capacity utilization and consumer sentiment.

"The industrial production and capacity utilization figures will be particularly interesting, in that they speak to the pace of the economy," said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co.

"But I think more people will be focused on the inflation points and the price of oil," he added.

Declines were widespread, with 24 out of 30 Dow issues falling. The biggest decliners were in technology, with Intel (down $0.65 to $24.20, Research), Hewlett-Packard (down $0.65 to $19.94, Research), Microsoft (down $0.34 to $25.09, Research) and IBM (down $0.90 to $91.51, Research) all lower.

Tech leader Intel boosted its first-quarter sales guidance to a range of between $9.2 and $9.4 billion, versus expectations for sales of $9.14 billion, according to First Call estimates. Intel also boosted its first-quarter forecast for its gross margins, a key measure of profitability.

However, investors remained wary after a mixed week for mid-quarter updates in the chip sector. Xilinx (down $1.16 to $30.62, Research) boosted its fourth-quarter revenue forecast, but Texas Instruments (down $0.88 to $26.20, Research) was less upbeat in its outlook.

Chip stocks slid Friday. The Philadelphia Semiconductor (down 12.58 to 427.88, Charts) index, or the SOX, fell 2.9 percent.

However, most of the buying was in commodities and materials, with investors wanting to pull money out of technology.

Steel stocks also rose aggressively, including U.S. Steel (up $1.77 to $56.55, Research) and Nucor (up $4.90 to $62.55, Research).

Among other movers, Kmart Holding (up $14.89 to $127.00, Research) rose more than 13 percent after UBS issued a bullish note on the company, saying it could see another 40 percent rise in its stock price as it moves forward with its purchase of Sears, Roebuck. Sears (up $4.20 to $57.56, Research) shares rallied, too.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers topped winners 3 to 2 on volume of 1.44 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers 9 to 7 on volume of 1.78 billion shares.

Treasury prices fell following the trade report. The decline raised the 10-year note yield to 4.53 percent from 4.46 percent late Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the euro and was little changed versus the yen.

COMEX gold rose $3.40 to settle at $446.80 an ounce, spiking with other dollar-traded commodities.

In global trade, Asian stocks ended higher Friday, and European markets ended mostly higher.