Markets slip Friday

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NEW YORK, May 25 (UPI) -- U.S. stocks closed lower Friday on economic news out of Spain and ahead of the holiday weekend.

The Dow Jones industrial average, which gained 34 points Thursday for the first finish in the black this week, was down 74.92 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,454.83.

Investor eyes are on Europe. With no major economic reports scheduled for release before the weekend, markets across the continent closed modestly higher, up 0.32 percent in Paris and 0.38 percent in Germany.

On Wall Street, the Standard & Poor's 500 shed 2.86 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,317.82. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.85 points, or 0.1 percent to 2,837.53.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,548 stocks rose and 1,452 declined on a volume of 2.8 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year treasury note fell 0.04 to 1.742 percent.

The euro continued its decline against the U.S. dollar at $1.2527 from Thursday's $1.2532. Against the yen, the dollar hit 79.64 from 79.58 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 0.2 percent, 17.01 points, to 8,580.39.

In London, the FTSE 100 index gained 0.03 percent, 1.48 points, to 5,351.53.