U.S. markets fall Friday afternoon

New York -- U.S. stock indexes tumbled Friday in New York as oil prices made gains and U.S. home sales data showed steady declines since September.

The National Association of Realtors said homes on the market were backed up to an 11.5 month inventory at current prices.

In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 136.70 points to 12,488.92, off 1.08 percent. The Standard and Poor's 500 index lost 18.39 points to 1,375.96, down 1.32 percent. The Nasdaq composite index lost 28.82 points to 2,435.76, also down 1.21 percent.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 20/32 to yield 3.848 percent.

The dollar fell. The euro traded at $1.5781 from Thursday's $1.571, while the dollar traded at 103.15 yen from Thursday's 104.21 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index gained 33.74 points to 14,012.20, off 0.24 percent.
In London, the FTSE 100 index lost 94.30 points to 6,087.30, down 1.53 percent.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.