YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks traded with losses for the majority of the session, but gradually climbed to positive territory late in afternoon trading. The rally proved unsustainable, though, as selling pressure intensified to rapidly send the stock market back to session lows.

Stocks were down 4.2% for the week. The S&P 500 is 6.7% above its five-year low, which was taken out in the prior session.

Trading remains volatile as investors continue looking for a bottom amid ongoing uncertainty in financial markets and global economic conditions. However, if anything is certain at this point, the bottom won't be marked by a clear V-shape.

In case they had forgotten, investors were reminded about the global economy's tenuous standing when leading handset company Nokia (NOK 12.59, -1.56) stated it expects fourth quarter industry volume to decline. The firm sees softer consumer spending amid weak economic conditions, while trade partners are challenged by credit conditions.

Weak economic conditions also have retailers fretting over the holiday shopping season. Kohl's (KSS 29.09, -1.48), Nordstrom (JWN 11.74, -1.22), JCPenney (JCP 17.27, -2.01), and Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF 17.79, -4.65) each issued downside guidance for the fourth quarter.

The glum outlook mirrors a 2.8% decline in October total retail sales. Excluding autos, retail sales declined 2.2%. Both were worse than expected.

The downbeat retail sales data set a weak foundation for the PCE component of fourth quarter GDP. Moreover, the data validate the idea that fourth quarter GDP will be well below the original 0.3% decline reported for the third quarter.

In other economic data, October import prices were up 6.7% year-over-year, missing the consensus of an 8.2% year-over-year increase.

September business inventories were down 0.2%, which is below the consensus forecast of a 0.1% decline. The prior reading was revised lower to a 0.2% increase.

Losses among stocks were deep and broad based Friday. Only the consumer staples sector (-2.9%) finished with a loss of less than 3%.

The financial sector (-5.2%) continued to underperform with more than 90% of the financial firms in the S&P 500 posting a decline.

Energy stocks (-4.0%) were also hit hard. The sector put together an 11% advance in the prior session, but with crude oil prices slipping more than 3% investors moved to take some profits off the table. Crude closed the session around $56.30 per barrel.

Weakness in equities sent government securities higher. The 10-year Treasury Note advanced 37 ticks, which was its largest advance this week. The Note currently yields 3.71%.DJ30 -337.94 NASDAQ -79.85 NQ100 -4.9% R2K -7.1% SP400 -5.3% SP500 -38.00 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 558/2.30 bln/2169 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 623/1.45 bln/2447