Stocks tumble on day, week
Wall Street suffers as higher oil prices and another weak housing market report give investors a reason to retreat ahead of the three-day holiday weekend.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks tumbled Friday, at the end of a down week on Wall Street, as spiking oil prices and another weak housing market report gave investors a reason to retreat ahead of a three-day holiday weekend.
All financial markets are closed Monday for Memorial Day.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 146 points, or 1.2%. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index fell 1.3% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 0.8%.
The major gauges all declined on the week as well, as record-high oil and gas prices exacerbated worries about the ability of the consumer to keep spending in an already-strapped economy. Thursday was an exception, with stocks moving higher as oil prices fell. For the week, the Dow lost 4.2%, the S&P 500 lost 3.6% and the Nasdaq lost 2.7%.
Stocks are likely to remain tied to oil for the time being, particularly since there is little likelihood that prices will come down anytime soon, said J. Stephen Lauck, president and CEO at Ashfield Capital Partners.
"The spike in oil prices is clearly a negative for the U.S. consumer," Lauck said. "I suspect that until we can get through a period where we don't have this kind of headwind, the market is going to be focused on fighting it."
Friday's market: Stocks opened weak and then turned even lower following the mid-morning release of the April existing-home sales report from an industry trade group.
Existing-home sales dipped 1% in the month, versus forecasts for a decline of 1.6%. However, the number of unsold single-family homes rose to the highest level in more than two decades, AP reported.
The runup in oil prices and the still-weak housing market report were keeping fears about the consumer in the forefront, said Dean Barber, president at Barber Financial Group. However, stocks were also continuing to see a pullback in the wake of the recent rally, after a good run between mid-March and mid-May.
"There's still a lot of cash sitting on the sidelines, but with oil at these levels, there's really no impetus to put that money to work right now," Barber said.
He said that there will be better opportunities for investors to get back in a few months from now, after the market has pulled back a little more.
Commodity prices rise: Oil and gold prices advanced, while gas hit a 16th straight record high.
U.S. light crude oil for July delivery rose $1.38 to settle at $132.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil hit an electronic trading record of $135.09 a barrel on Thursday.
Oil has been spiking over the last few weeks on a mix of global supply concerns and the impact of the weak dollar, which makes dollar-traded commodities like oil less expensive for international investors to buy.
The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas rose to a record $3.875 from the previous day's record high of $3.831 per gallon, AAA reported.
COMEX gold for August delivery rose $7.60 to settle at $930.60 an ounce.
Company news: General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) fell to a 26-year low after it said the just-ended strike at parts supplier American Axle (AXL) and strikes at some of its own plants will cost the automaker around $2 billion before taxes in the second quarter.
Including GM, 27 of 30 Dow stocks fell. Other big losers included AIG (AIG, Fortune 500), American Express (AXP, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), United Technologies (UTX, Fortune 500) and Intel (INTC, Fortune 500).
Halliburton (HAL, Fortune 500) made a conditional bid of $3.36 billion for British oil services firm Expro International Group. The deal is not considered a firm offer, Expro said, and is subject to certain preconditions. Halliburton shares lost 1%.
Belgian brewer InBev is reportedly working on a $46 billion bid for Anheuser-Busch (BUD, Fortune 500), according to a Financial Times report. Bud shares jumped 7.7%.
Apparel retailer Gap (GAP, Fortune 500) late Thursday reported higher first-quarter earnings that topped forecasts on weaker revenue that missed estimates. Shares fell 2% Friday.
Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners 7 to 3 on volume of 1.12 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by more than 2 to 1 on volume of 1.73 billion shares.
Other markets: The dollar fell versus the euro and yen.
Treasury prices rallied, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.87% from 3.91% late Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. 
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