NEW YORK (AP) - Investors were taking few chances Friday while they waited for a confidence vote in Greece on the country's embattled prime minister. Stocks fell on concerns that the country might not go through with an austerity program needed to prevent a default on its debt.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 61 points, recouping some of the ground it lost earlier in the day. The average fell 2 percent for the week, its first weekly loss since September.
Europe's debt problems were again the focus for investors Friday - as they have been all week. Stocks plunged Monday and Tuesday after Prime Minister George Papandreou shocked investors with an announcement that he would put the country's austerity plan to a public vote. He backed away from the plan, but investors are still unnerved by the political turmoil in Greece. It threatens to hobble Europe's efforts to control its debt crisis.