Stocks fell on Friday on a combination of retailers' weak earnings, Senate backing for limits on credit card fees and concerns over whether European countries can pay their public debt obligations.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 162.79 points, or 1.51 percent, to end unofficially at 10,620.16. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 21.76 points, or 1.88 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,135.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> slid 47.51 points, or 1.98 percent, to close unofficially at 2,346.85.

Despite two consecutive days of declines, the three major U.S. stock indexes posted their largest weekly percentage advance in 10 weeks. For the week, the Dow was up 2.3 percent, the S&P 500 was up 2.2 percent and the Nasdaq was up 3.6 percent.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Jan Paschal)