U.S. stocks fell Friday, led by big technology shares, as Wall Street concluded a difficult week in which coronavirus cases surged, U.S. fiscal stimulus talks broke down again, and traders prepared for next week's U.S. presidential election. For the week, the Dow industrials dropped 7.4 percent, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 6.5 percent, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq declined more than 6 percent and recorded is worst weekly performance since March. The weekly losses came as the seven-day average of new U.S. coronavirus cases hit a record high this week. Gold rose over the same worries about the U.S. election and rising Covid-19 cases. Futures climbed 0.6 percent to $1,879.90 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil fell, extending losses and on track for a second monthly decline, on growing concerns that the surge in virus cases in Europe and the United States will hurt fuel consumption. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 38 cents, or 1.1 percent, to a five-month low of $35.79 a barrel. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 157.51, or 0.6 percent, to 26,501.60. Seventeen of the index's 30 components declined, led by Apple, which plunged 5.6 percent after reporting a 20 percent decline in iPhone sales. Boeing lost 2.6 percent, Nike was 2.3 percent lower, and Salesforce.com retreated 2 percent. IBM led gainers, advancing 2.5 percent. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 40.15, or 1.2 percent, to 3,269.96. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 274 to 10,911.59. Twitter tumbled 21 percent after reporting user growth that fell short of expectations. Facebook plunged 6.3 percent on a surprise decline in North American users, Netflix dropped 5.6 percent, Amazon lost 5.4 percent despite posting strong quarterly results, and Google-parent Alphabet declined 3.8 percent.