The economic reports included a drop in consumer spending, which followed a glum holiday season forecast from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. yesterday, and an uptick in inflation at the wholesale level during October.

"Advance retail sales weren’t so good," said Brian Williamson, an equity trader at The Boston Company Asset Management. "Retailers are a little worried about holiday shopping, they’re worried about their profits, so this number confirmed what we saw yesterday."

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average ended the day down 69.26, or 0.7 percent, at 9,768.68, losing 0.4 percent for the week.

The broader gauges also fell. The Nasdaq composite index closed down 37.09, or 1.9 percent, at 1,930.26, for a weekly loss of 2.1 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 8.06, or 0.8 percent, at 1,050.35, for a weekly decline of 0.3 percent.

This was the market’s first down week in three. It saw moderate declines four days out of five amid concerns about the economy, but a solid advance on Wednesday during a brief burst of optimism about high-tech sales.

A Commerce Department report today showed that Americans cut their spending in October, depressing retail sales for a second month in a row. The news exacerbated investors concerns after Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, said yesterday it was cautious about the outlook for the fourth quarter.

Williamson said investors also were concerned that interest rates could go up faster than expected after a government report suggested inflation was on the rise. The Labor Department said wholesale prices were up 0.8 percent in October, the largest increase in seven months. Economists forecast a rise of just 0.2 percent.

A turnaround in inflation could motivate the Federal Reserve to raise rates.

Also today, the Fed reported that industrial production rose by 0.2 percent in October, down from a 0.5 percent gain in September. October’s increase was half the size of the 0.4 percent increase economists expected.

Some positive news came from a survey by the University of Michigan that showed that consumers have become more optimistic about the economy this month. The university’s consumer sentiment index increased to 93.5 for the first half of November, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Wall Street had expected a mid-November reading of 91.0.