Stock Market Loses Ground Under Pressure From AIG, Oil

By Peter A. McKay

Word Count: 803 | Companies Featured in This Article: American International Group, the utilities sector, S&P's financial sector, Citigroup, Fannie Mae, UBS, Clear Channel Communications

Until this week, the stock market was cruising along quite merrily. Then it stopped to fill up.

Soaring oil prices have stifled the stock market lately, with an assist from announcements by several Wall Street bellwethers that tweaked investors' credit-related fears. Both trends were on full display Friday as crude hit another new record and a downbeat quarterly report from American International Group pushed the financial sector lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 120.90 points, or 0.9%, at 12745.88, down 3.9% on the year. The blue-chip indicator fell 2.4% on the week, snapping a streak of three straight ...