Stocks Fall for Sixth Week

U.S. stocks tumbled Friday on worries about the global economy, ensuring the sixth week of losses for the benchmark indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 172.45 points, or 1.42%, to 11,951.91. The S&P 500 lost 18.02 points, or 1.40%, to 1,270.98. The Nasdaq Composite was down 41.14 points, or 1.53%, to 2,643.73. For the week, the Dow average has lost 1.6%, the S&P 500 has fallen 2.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite has fallen 3.3%.

The federal budget deficit is on pace to break the $1 trillion mark for a third straight year. Record deficits are putting pressure on Congress and the Obama administration to come up with a plan to rein in government spending. Already, the deficit through the first eight months of this budget year is $927.4 billion, according to the latest report from the Treasury Department released Friday.

The Federal Reserve wants a broader group of banks to provide details each year about their finances, part of an effort to ensure banks can meet their capital requirements and avoid another financial crisis. The Fed currently requires the nation’s 19 largest banks to submit capital plans annually. The proposal unveiled Friday would expand the list to the 35 largest banks by requiring firms with assets of $50 billion or more to submit annual plans.

A six-week stock slump has caused Ally Financial Inc. to delay an initial public stock offering that had been scheduled for late June, two people briefed on the decision said Friday.

Oil prices sank 2.6 percent Friday on reports that the world’s biggest oil exporter will increase production 13 percent from May levels to 10 million barrels per day. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery lost $2.66 at $99.27 per barrel in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.