Wall Street report: Friday close

MARKETS stumbled again as first

The Dow closed off 0.6% on the week after trading in a 500-point range. The Nasdaq lost 1.1% over the five sessions.

A grumpy forecast from Disney weighed on sentiment from the outset. After the close of trading on Thursday, the media giant said it was seeing weak bookings at its theme parks and soft advertising at its ABC TV network. It blamed consumer caution for its revision in forecasts. Disney shares tumbled $1.52 or 9% to $15.31, from $27.98 a year ago.

The Labour Department added to mounting evidence that the economic recovery has stalled when it said only 6,000 jobs were created during July. Economists were expecting 60,000 people to find employment during the month. The unemployment rate remained at 5.9%, near an eight-year high. The Commerce Department said factory orders fell 2.4%, more than economists had been expecting.

Recent data has raised fears that the economy might be headed for a 'double dip' back into recession. Many economists have downgraded their forecasts for the final quarter of the year and early next year.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs, which a month ago predicted the Federal Reserve, the country's central bank, would raise official interest rates, said in its latest update that the Fed should lower them to try to kickstart the economy.

Fears that a slowdown in personal spending might be ahead as the economy slows hurt consumer-related shares again. Wal-Mart came off $1.30 or 2.7% to $46.10 and Hewlett-Packard plunged 89 cents or 6.5% to $12.80 possibly on worries that its computer and printer business could be hurt in a spending pullback.

United Airlines fell $1.07 or 21% to $4.15 after it was reported that its situation was so glum after the terrorist attacks last September that it had hired bankruptcy lawyers.

Another warning from a semiconductor company hurt techs. National Semiconductor, which makes chips for handsets and computers, faltered 25 cents or 1.5% to $16.88 after it said weak demand was hurting. Rivals Texas Instruments dropped $1.14 or 5.4% to $19.97 and Intel eased 85 cents or 5% to $16.71.

AOL Time Warner fell 71 cents or 6% to $10.30 on a report that investigations into its accounting had been expanded to include dealings with a software company. Conglomerate Tyco International rose 54 or 4.2% to $13.35 as it announced the resignation of its chief financial officer.