Dow Jones Industrial Average sheds weight on risk-off Friday

• The Dow Jones lost 400 points on Friday.
• Holiday markets traded on the low side, Dow ended the week flat.
• Another midweek holiday next week will crimp market volumes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) shed around 400 points on a quiet Friday. Most investors are still out of the markets on holidays and thin volumes have left the Dow Jones roughly a full percent lower.

Holiday market flows are in full swing in equities, with a broad-base cooling effect in the long-run tech rally as investors pull up stakes and do some light profit-taking ahead of the rollover into the new year. A thin data release schedule this week, followed by another midweek holiday next week, leaves equity indexes on the tepid side in the near term.