Down on Wall Street - but up in January

Leading indexes on the American stock exchanges fell on the week's and month's last trading day. The broad S&P 500 index lost 0.5 percent, the Dow Jones industrial index fell 0.8 percent, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 0.3 percent.

However, since the turn of the year, the S&P 500 has risen 2.7 percent, the Dow Jones 4.7 percent, and the Nasdaq 1.7 percent.

iPhone manufacturer Apple initially rose on Friday, but the stock fell in afternoon trading and closed at minus 0.7 percent. The IT giant reported a record turnover on Thursday, but with decreased sales in China.

Another loser was Exxon Mobil, despite the oil company's profit for the previous quarter exceeding expectations. The turnover was, however, lower than expected, and the stock fell 2.5 percent.