Wall Street stocks fall as Spanish bank teeters

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Another flare-up in Europe’s debt crisis knocked U.S. markets lower Friday. This time, it was more trouble at a major Spanish bank.

Stock indexes were waffling between small gains and losses until news broke in the afternoon that Bankia, a hobbled Spanish lender, asked that country’s government for $23.8 billion in support. Earlier in the day, Standard & Poor’s cut the bank’s credit rating to junk status because of deepening uncertainty over its restructuring plans.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped as much as 108 points, then recovered slightly to end down 74.92 points at 12,454.83. Concerns about Europe have sent the Dow on a steady slide this month, erasing most of its gains from the first quarter.

It finished the week slightly higher, its first weekly gain for May.