U.S. Stocks Hit Again On European Sovereign Debt Crisis

Stocks started weaker and were unable to gain any traction throughout the shortened trading session, as debt contagion issues in the Eurozone kept buyers at bay.

Heading into the final minutes of trading, the Dow is down 83, the Nasdaq is down 6 and the S&P 500 is down 8.

Now that the latest Eurozone problem-child Ireland has agreed to EU aid, attention has turned to the next ones - Portugal and then Spain.

Overnight, reports surfaced that the EU was strong-arming Portugal to seek aid to avoid Spain being next.

"If Portugal were to use the fund, it would be good for Spain, because the country is heavily exposed to Portugal," reports quoted Germany's finance ministry as saying.

However EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso refuted the report. "I can tell you that it's absolutely false, completely false," Barroso said.

After being closed all day Thursday for Thanksgiving, U.S. markets close at 1PM ET on Friday.

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