Stocks continue slide as ‘fiscal cliff’ talks go down to the wire

Stocks continued to weaken Friday as congressional leaders and President Obama resumed talks over resolving the so-called fiscal cliff before Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 71 points, or 0.5%, to 13,026 shortly after the opening bell on Wall Street.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 8 points, or 0.6%, to 1,410. The technology-heavy Nasdaq lost 10 points, or 0.3%, to 2,976.

U.S. stock indexes fell sharply Thursday before recovering late in the trading session on word the House would return to session on Sunday.

Economists have warned that the automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to kick in at the first of the year could push the fragile U.S. economy back into recession.

On Friday, investors also digested economic data. The Institute for Supply Management’s Chicago Business Barometer index rose more than expected to a seasonally adjusted 51.6 in December, from 50.4 in November.

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