Gravity returned to Wall Street on Friday.
After a six-week levitation that pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average higher without a major stumble, renewed fears of a Greek default dragged stocks to their biggest point and percentage decline this year.
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The Dow's drop of 89.23 points, or 0.7%, to 12801.23, was the blue-chip index's biggest slide since Dec. 28. It is now up 4.8% this year.
The winning streak had caught many investors flat-footed. After last year's volatility, many analysts and investors had braced for a tough slog, driven by vulnerability to political developments in Europe and Washington.
Instead, the Dow has shrugged off most of those concerns, embarking on a run marked by a lack of sharp swings. Friday's decline was the 30th consecutive trading day without a triple-digit loss, the longest such streak in more than a year. On Friday, though, the blue-chip index fell by as much as 147 points before paring losses in late trading.
The slide was fueled by concerns about Europe's sovereign-debt crisis, particularly Greece.
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