Did Jesus spend time in the place of eternal punishment? I would answer, "no."
The Text of the Apostles' Creed (Symbolum Apostolorum) in Latin
Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae,
et in Iesum Christum, Filium Eius unicum, Dominum nostrum,
qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine,
passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus,
descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis,
ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Patris omnipotentis,
inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos.
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum,
sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem,
remissionem peccatorum,
carnis resurrectionem,
vitam aeternam.
Amen.
The Latin Word Inferum
The Latin word inferos is the accusative inflection of the nominative inferum. This word is actually an adjective (functioning as a substantive) meaning "below, beneath, underneath, lower" (Footnote 1), like the English word "inferior."
The Latin word inferos is the equivalent of the Hebrew word שאול (sheol) and the Greek word ᾅδης (hades). For example, see the text of the Tanakh, LXX, and Vulgate of Genesis 42:38. All these words generally refer to the "grave." It was to this place that Jacob would go down mourning for Joseph.
It is important to note that the English word "hell" is used to translate more than one Greek word in the New Testament, those being ᾅδης (hades) and γέεννα (Gehenna). γέεννα is actually the Greek word used to refer to the place of eternal punishment (cp. Mark 9:43-48). It used to be a physical dump in the Valley of Hinnom (Hebrew Gei ben Hinnom), but later, the rabbis used this physical place as a metaphor to represent the eternal place of punishment for the wicked.
While the Latin word inferos is used to translate the Hebrew word שאול (sheol) and the Greek word ᾅδης (hades) into the Vulgate, a different word is used for the Greek word γέεννα (gehenna). Rather than translate γέεννα, Jerome in his Vulgate chose to transliterate it directly into Latin as gehenna.
Revisions of the Apostles' Creed
"The earliest appearance of what we know as the Apostles' Creed was in the De singulis libris canonicis scarapsus ("Excerpt from Individual Canonical Books") of St. Pirminius (Migne, Patrologia Latina 89, 1029 ff.), written between 710 and 714." (Footnote 2)
Various additions to the Apostles' Creed have occurred over time. According to Rufinus, one such addition was the phrase descendit ad inferos, regarding which he asserts, "But it should be known that the clause, 'He descended into Hell,' is not added in the Creed of the Roman Church, neither is it in that of the Oriental Churches. It seems to be implied, however, when it is said that 'He was buried.'"
Apparently, descendit ad inferos simply meant "he descended into the grave," rather than the place of eternal punishment, since Rufinus believed that descendit ad inferos was implied by the preceding phrase et sepultus, i.e. "and he was buried." One is buried in the grave, not in the place of eternal punishment.
While Rufinus quotes a shorter version of the Apostles' Creed in Latin, another, Marcellus, quoted a shorter version of the creed in Greek.
Πιστεύω εἰς θεὸν πατέρα παντοκράτορα καὶ εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν (τὸν) υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ, τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν, τὸν γεννηθέντα ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου, τὸν ἐπὶ Ποντίον Πιλάτου σταυρωθέντα καὶ ταφέντα, τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ· ἀναστάντα ἐκ (τῶν) νεκρῶν, ἀναβάντα εἰς τοὺς οὐρανούς, καθήμενον ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ πατρὸς ὅθεν ἔρχεται κρῖναι ζώντας καὶ νεκρούς, καὶ εἰς πνεῦμα ἅγιον, ἅγιαν ἐκκλησίαν, ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν, σαρκὸς ἀνάστασιν.
It too was missing the Greek phrase equivalent to "and he descended to hell/ grave."
"That the shorter Roman symbol as represented in the Epistle of Marcellus and in the Psalterium Aethelstani was as early as about the year 250 the predominant one in Rome, must be regarded as one of the most positive results of historical investigation." (Footnote 4)
Ephesians 4:8-10
Ephesians 4:8-10 seems to be ambiguous. The focus is the Greek phrase τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς. The phrase could be understood as a "genitive of apposition" or a "partitive genitive." Therefore, it could mean "the lower parts, that is, the earth" or "the lower parts of the earth" (perhaps, the grave), respectively. Either way, there is nothing in the verse that explicitly states Jesus abode in the place of eternal punishment. If a partitive genitive, the phrase "the lower parts of the earth" could simply refer to the grave, being equivalent to the Latin word inferum, Greek word hades, and Hebrew word *sheol."
References
(1) Lewis & Short lexicon: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=inferos&la=la#lexicon
(2) J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, third edition, (London: Longman, Green & Co, 1972), 398–434
(3) Creeds of Christendom, with a History and Critical notes. Volume I. The History of Creeds. § 7. The Apostles' Creed: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds1.iv.ii.html
(4) Apostles' Creed, §2: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/harnack/creed.ii.iii.html
