Stocks resumed their rudderless slide Friday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 posting their largest weekly percentage losses since March 2009, as concerns over euro zone debt and hangover from Thursday's dizzying plunge offset an encouraging employment report.

“It’s a confidence crisis,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist for Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential Financial Inc., which oversees about $667 billion. “You’ve got yourself in a vortex of negativity in Europe.”

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 141 points, capping a four-day plunge of 772 points. The Nasdaq Composite lost 8 percent over the week, its largest weekly percentage decline since November 2008.

The VIX, the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, soared 26 percent to 41.4, its highest close in more than a year.

U.S. stocks opened higher, but quickly changed direction in a decline that accelerated by mid-morning. The indexes recovered somewhat after President Barack Obama promised to look into Thursday's trades and amid speculation the European Central Bank will announce measures to tackle the region’s debt crisis. But the boost didn't succeed in paring losses at the end of the day.

“The ECB needs to step in here and do something," an investor said. "They could have solved this six months ago. There’s still a lot of concern about contagion. Investors are scared to death.”

American Express Co., Hewlett-Packard Co., and Cisco Systems Inc. lost more than 3 percent to lead declines in the Dow. Financial shares in the S&P 500 fell 1.2 percent after plunging as much as 2.7 percent in the first hour, then rallying more than 1.6 percent on speculation the ECB will provide emergency funding to the region’s banks, then retreating again.

Friday's slide disappointed those who expected the markets to respond favorably to a robust jobs report in which the Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls rose by a higher-than-expected 290,000 last month, the largest gain since March 2006. Even the rise of the unemployment rate to 9.9 percent was seen as proof that the size of the labor force increased.

Crude-oil futures followed the general mood, losing 13 percent in a week marked by fear that the global recovery will die an early death due to debt contagion.

On the other hand, gold resumed its triumphant climb as the ultimate hedge against weakening currencies. Gold for June delivery settled $13.10 higher and within shouting distance of its December 3 all-time-settlement record of $1,217.40 an ounce.

Investors added to the losses of Thursday's wild ride on the markets, when stocks plunged 9 percent within the last two hours of trading and briefly erasing more than $1 trillion in market value, before clawing back.

The Securities and Exchange Commission wants to determine if market participants accidentally or maliciously entered orders that derailed normal trading, reports say. Exchanges may consider circuit breakers for specific stocks.

A suspected trading error, which is thought to have precipitated Thursday's roller coaster, is putting the spotlight on the fragmentation of the U.S. equity markets. Nasdaq canceled trades of 296 stocks whose prices fluctuated the most (see this list) and said the excessive movements in those prices were not due to a technical glitch on its end.

Contributing to the gloom on Friday, a Citigroup report is predicting that the Greek crisis, "graver" than the Asian crisis of 1997, could trigger a correction of up to 20 percent in the equity markets.

"With global equities having rallied 79.9 percent in a scant 13 months through April, we feel it would be only natural to go through a correction of around 10 percent or 20 percent over two or three months," the Citi research note said.

On the other hand, investor Jim Rogers said equities had a “normal correction” and were “overdue for a sell-off” after rallying to a "major high" in late April.

“Being down 3 or 4 percent is a big, big number, but that’s hardly panic, not yet,” Rogers said.

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