US stocks end lower

Wall Street finished a disappointing week lower today as a sharp drop in oil prices failed to ease worries about declining consumer confidence.

Crude oil futures slid from their record highs earlier this week as it became clearer that Hurricane Katrina was unlikely to disrupt US refineries in the Gulf of Mexico.

A barrel of light crude settled at 66.13 dollars, down 1.36 dollars, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Yet there may be little reason for crude oil to drop substantially lower in the near term, and one analyst said the market could be headed still lower as a result.

“Right now, for the short term, the market is probably going to continue on this path for a little bit,” said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. ”Unless we get some dissipation of headwinds facing the market, we have a tough running ahead.”

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 53.34, or 0.51%, to 10,397.29, the index’s lowest close in seven weeks.

The broader stock indicators also headed lower. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 7.29, or 0.6%, to 1,205.10, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 13.60, or 0.64%, to 2,120.77.