Dow loses 203 as stocks snap 6-week win streak

Selling hit Wall Street for a third straight day Friday as the stock market ended its worst week in 12 weeks.

Investors are grappling with uncertain market conditions due to coming Fed rate hikes, global economic worries, falling oil prices and fears of a weakening retail sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average, which tumbled 254 points Thursday, lost another 203 points, or 1.2%, to 17,245. The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, which fell back into the red for the year Thursday, lost another 1.1%. The Nasdaq composite, the lone major U.S. stock index still in the black for 2015, ended down 1.5%.

The five-day loss of 3.7% for the S&P 500 snapped a six-week winning streak for stocks and was the worst weekly performance since August..

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Wall Street, which enjoyed its best October in years and a quick start to November, is back in risk-off mode.

Investors are finding more reasons to hold off on buying stocks, with worries ranging from overvalued stocks, higher interest rates, weak results from key retailers like Macy's (M) and ongoing angst over the impact of China's economic slowdown.

Traders were also digesting weaker-than-expected retail sales in October, which added to more recent fears about the strength of the holiday selling season prompted by weak earnings and guidance from department store Macy's and Nordstrom.

Shares of Macy's fell 4.3% and Nordstrom (JWN) tumbled 15%. J.C. Penney (JCP) reported better-than-expected results but still reported a loss for the third quarter as the retailer continued its turnaround strategy. Shares dropped 17%.

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Oil prices continued to fall as U.S. benchmark crude was on the verge of dropping below $40 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 2.% to $40.77 a barrel.

The weight of a coming interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve, its first in almost a decade, continues to weigh on stocks. Yesterday, Wall Street was flooded with speeches from six Fed members, and the general tone again pointed toward a rate increase at the Fed's last meeting in December.

"Global risky assets are finishing the week with a weak tone, as the prospect of a December Fed lift-off weighed on markets following a strong rally in October," Barclays strategist Guillermo Felices noted in a morning report.

In a sign of the rising angst on Wall Street, non-bank lender Loan Depot pulled its initial public offering at the last moment last night, citing poor "market conditions."

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Foreign markets were also weak. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index plunged 2.2% and mainland China's Shanghai composite fell 1.4%.

Shares were also lower in Europe, despite hints from European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi earlier this week that more stimulus was on the way. In Germany, the DAX index was down 0.7% and the CAC 40 in Paris was off 1%.