U.S. markets fall hard Friday afternoon

New York-- U.S. stock markets fell hard Friday on rising oil prices and two U.S. lenders that seemed headed for trouble.

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. and the Federal National Mortgage Association appeared likely to require government bailouts soon because of the shrinking value of their assets. Shares in the companies fell 48 percent and 47 percent, respectively, in pre-market trading.

Oil prices surged, hitting a record above $147 per barrel before prices retreated. Most recently oil traded at $143.84 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 236,03 points, or 2.10 percent, to 10,992.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 26.02 points, or 2.08 percent, to 1,227.37. The Nasdaq composite index fell 47.82 points, or 2.12 percent, to 2,210.03.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell23/32 to yield 3.888 percent.

The dollar fell. The euro traded at $1.5901 from Thursday's $1.5779, while

the dollar traded at 106.07 yen from Thursday's 107.04 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei index lost 27.52 points to 13,039.69, off 0.21 percent.

In London, the FTSE 100 index lost 145.20 to 5,261.60, down 2.69 percent to finish the week with its lowest close of 2008.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.