Wall Street stocks ended a fourth week of losses on a down note on Friday as most buyers left the market ahead of the weekend on growing fears of another U.S. recession and destabilization in Europe's financial system.

Based on the latest available data for the day, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 172.93 points, or 1.57 percent, to end unofficially at 10,817.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 17.12 points, or 1.50 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,123.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 38.59 points, or 1.62 percent, to close unofficially at 2,341.84.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Jan Paschal)