Weekly Recap - Week ending 27-Nov-09A surprising sell-off in overseas markets triggered by Dubai debt concerns led to sharp losses in U.S. equity markets on Friday, wiping out the gains made earlier in the week.

Sector activity was mixed. Financials (-2.8%) led the way lower on Friday, but Telecom (+3.1%) and Health Care (+1.9%) were strong early in the week.

The market's only notable move higher this week came at the open on Monday, when a weaker U.S. dollar and much better-than-expected Existing Home Sales report helped stocks surge.  Sales in October rose 10.1% to 6.1 million homes, greatly outpacing expectations of 5.7 million as the first-time home buyers tax credit provided much of the incentive for the increase.

Stocks held those gains through Monday's session, and into Tuesday and Wednesday as volume slowed ahead of the Thanksgiving Day holiday.  But one headline from Wednesday, that the UAE government was restructuring Dubai World, didn't initially receive much of a reaction.

But on Thursday, with U.S. markets closed, European markets plunged as concerns grew, helping to change investors' risk appetite.  The Dubai government asked creditors, which reportedly include many European banks, particularly in the United Kingdom, to defer payments on some $20 billion in debt coming due over the next 18 months.

Asian markets, which had traded lower on Thursday, plunged overnight on Friday, and the weakness carried over to U.S. markets, with the S&P 500 losing 1.7%. 

While the actual direct impact on the U.S. markets may be minimal, the news acted as a nudge to those that may have already been considering locking in their gains after the incredibly strong rebound in global equity markets over the