Stocks close down after Americans cut spending Stock prices closing sharply lower on Wall Street after a late afternoon sell-off. The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 208 points at 15,115 Friday, a loss of 1.4 percent. Pfizer led the Dow lower. The Dow held on to a gain of 1.9 percent for May and is still up 15 percent so far this year. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 23 points to 1,630, a decline of 1.4 percent. The Nasdaq fell 35 points to 3,455, a decline of 1 percent. The declines were broad. All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 fell, led by health care and energy stocks. Five stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was heavier than usual at 3.9 billion shares.