NEW YORK (April 5, 2012)--Stocks ended their worst week of the new year Thursday ahead of the Good Friday holiday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 ended the shortened trading week down 0.7 percent, the biggest fall for the index this year and the worst since the week ended Dec. 16, 2011.

Investors sold stocks on fears that Spain may have trouble paying back its debt.

On Thursday, the interest rate on a key Spanish government bond rose to its highest since November.

The S&P 500 fell less than one point to close at 1,398.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 15 points to close at 13,060.

The Nasdaq rose 12 points to 3,080.

More stocks fell than rose on the New York Stock Exchange where volume was light at 3.3 billion shares.