US Slumps On Oil Spike

US shares tumbled on Friday as a new rise in crude oil futures dampened sentiment and investors refrained from taking new positions ahead of a three-day holiday weekend.

Data showing a further decline in US home sales and a rising glut of unsold properties also kept traders cautious.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 145.99 points (1.16 percent) to close at 12 479.63 and the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite dropped 19.91 points (0.81 percent) to 2444.67.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 19.91 points (1.32 percent) to 1375.93, capping a week of heavy losses for Wall Street.

With traders looking ahead to the three-day Memorial Day weekend, sentiment took a hit from a fresh jump in crude futures, up 1.38 dollars to close at 132.19 dollars a barrel in New York.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales in April slowed one percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89-million units from an upwardly revised pace of 4.94-million in March.

The pace was slightly stronger than expected. But the median sales price plunged eight percent from a year ago and inventories of homes for sale rose 10.5 percent to 4.55 million units, an 11.2-month supply at the current sales pace.