On the stock market, decliners included Halliburton Co, which faces accusations of accounting fraud in a new lawsuit brought by investors. The company's shares were down 44 cents at US$29.67.
Shares of General Motors tumbled US$1.05 to US$41.49 following the company's announcement Thursday that it was recalling all Saturn Vue sport utility vehicles manufactured since 2001.
Reflecting the uncertainty in the job market, Labor Ready Inc, which recruits and provides day laborers, saw its shares fall US$0.68 to US$12.20.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE, where preliminary consolidated volume came to 1.81 billion shares, up from 1.7 billion shares traded on Thursday.
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