Another dose of anguish about the global economic recovery sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the first close below 12,000 since mid-March on Friday, capping the blue-chip index’s longest weekly slump since 2002.
The Dow sank 172.45 points, or 1.4 percent, to 11,951.91, the sixth straight week of declines. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index shed 18.02, or 1.4 percent, to 1,270.98. That broad index also has notched six weeks of declines, the longest losing streak since 2008.
Two closely watched stock indexes turned negative for the year Friday. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 41.14, or 1.5 percent, to 2,643.73. The small-capitalization Russell 2000 fell 13.10, or 1.7 percent, to 779.54.
Investors were dour after US May import prices showed a surprise gain of 0.2 percent, hinting at an inflation push coming into the US from abroad. Overseas, worries about the debt of some euro-using countries pushed the Continent’s stocks lower, while a surprise interest rate increase by the Bank of Korea weighed on Asian stock exchanges.
The action followed a string of weak readings on the US economy that have joined with pessimism about weaker global growth to weigh on major stock indexes.
“There’s a growing idea that perhaps this slowdown is not as temporary as it looks,” said John Brady, senior vice president at MF Global.
Energy stocks led decliners after reports that Saudi Arabia would increase oil output, driving crude oil sharply lower, near $99 a barrel.
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