U.S. stocks pared losses on Friday as investors shifted positions as options lapsed and gold futures surged past the $1,000-mark. "I have no fundamental reason [for the market move] other than it would be 100% options-related. [And,] given the uncertainty with corporate earnings, gold is one area investors should be looking at to hedge themselves against the perception that the dollar decline is somewhere on the horizon," said Dan Greenhaus, an analyst with Miller Tabak. Down about 130 points earlier on, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lately off 94.62 points at 7,371.33. The S&P 500 fell 9.28 points to 769.66, and the Nasdaq Composite shed 6.11 points to 1,436.71.
