Stocks Fall For Third Day to Close Week

The U.S. stock market added to a string of losses on Friday in the wake of the announcement of more quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve earlier in the week. Worries about the fiscal cliff and gridlock in Washington continue to overhang the market environment as stocks try to recoup losses from November.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell a little more than 35 points on the session to close at 13,135. The widely watched blue-chip index traded in a range between 13,118 and 13,190.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY) lost 0.36 percent to $142.12. Volume was light with around 101.7 million SPY shares trading hands compared to a three-month daily average of 134 million.

The PowerShares QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), fell 0.95 percent, outpacing the Dow and S&P to the downside. The ETF has been under consistent pressure in recent months on account of the large decline in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), which shed a little less than four percent on the session.

Crude oil rose on the session despite risk aversion in stocks. NYMEX crude futures, the U.S. benchmark, climbed one percent to $86.75. Brent crude contracts added 1.57 percent to $108.13. In ETF trading, the United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO) added 0.73 percent to $31.81.

Precious metals finished Friday's session close to the flatline. COMEX gold futures lost 0.02 percent to $1,696.30. Silver futures fell 0.22 percent to $32.29. The heavily traded SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSE:GLD) declined 0.15 percent and closed the week at $164.15.

Long-term Treasuries benefited from a lack of risk appetite on the day. The iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE:TLT) climbed 0.75 percent to $123.60. The yield on the 10-Year Note lost 3 basis points to 1.70 percent.

The U.S. dollar was lower on Friday. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF (NYSE:UUP), which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of foreign currencies, lost 0.46 percent to $21.76. The closely watched EUR/USD pair finished the week at $1.3159, a gain of 0.63 percent on the day.