NEW YORK — Wall Street ended a tumultuous week with a sharp decline yesterday, backtracking after two days of stunning gains as investors turned cautious and cashed in some of their winnings. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 171.44 points.

"People may be looking to take some profits off the table in this volatile market. And there's a lot of activity that's coming up next week," Scott Fullman, director of investment strategy at I.A. Englander & Co., said during the day's back-and-forth moves.

President Bush will deliver his State of the Union address Monday. The Federal Reserve will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday, and is widely expected to cut rates again. And the Labor Department will report on the job market on Friday.