Stocks fall at close, after down week

New York (AP) — Capping another volatile session for the stock market, the key averages ended with a late decline.

The Dow fell nearly 338 points to 8,497. The index was down 5 percent for the week.

The S&P dropped 38 points to 873, down 6 percent for the week.

And the Nasdaq composite shed nearly 80 points to 1,516. It lost nearly 8 percent this week.

Declining issues led advancers by a 4 to 1 margin.

Volume on the NYSE came to 5.6 billion shares. Nasdaq volume was 2.2 billion shares.

Earlier today, the government reported a record decline for retail sales in October.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)