Stock Prices Finish Mixed

Stocks drifted to a mixed finish Friday as Wall Street worried about the impact of high oil prices on the nation’s trade deficit and Intel’s bullish sales forecast prompted some profit-taking. The major indexes also were mixed for the week.

In currency trading, the dollar surged against the euro and the yen.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.61 points, or 0.1%, to 10,512.63, but winners had only a slight edge over losers on the New York Stock Exchange.

Higher interest rates weighed on stocks. Bond yields rose for a third day, after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s upbeat assessment of the economy in testimony to Congress on Thursday.

Some traders are speculating that current bond yields -- near their lowest levels in 14 months -- don’t reflect prospects for economic growth and more credit-tightening by the Fed.

The 10-year Treasury note yield closed above 4% for the first time this month, rising to 4.05% from 3.95% on Thursday. Bond yields rise as their prices fall.

“Bonds at these yield levels offer very little value,” said Edgar Peters, investment chief at PanAgora Asset Management in Boston. “Inflation is low but it’s not that low to justify bond buying, especially given the U.S. economy is not slowing at a fast pace.”

In the stock market, however, some analysts were concerned that high oil prices, which helped widen the April trade deficit by 6.3%, would be a continuing drag on the economy.

The government said the trade deficit rose to $57 billion from $53.6 billion in March. While that was a smaller increase than expected, oil imports rose to the second-highest level on record -- enough to raise new concerns about oil prices’ effect on consumer spending and business costs.

Investors’ fears were heightened as crude futures held on to a large part of Thursday’s sharp gain. Near-term crude futures in New York settled at $53.54 a barrel, down 74 cents. Oil jumped $1.74 on Thursday but for the week was down $1.49.

Among broader stock indexes Friday, the Standard & Poor’s 500 eased 2.82 points, or 0.2%, to 1,198.11, and the Nasdaq composite fell 13.91 points, or 0.7%, to 2,063.00.

Despite Greenspan’s positive assessment of the economy, some analysts remain concerned about growth, and are looking for better news from government reports in the weeks ahead.

“The values are no longer there, the economy is slowing, interest rates are taking their toll and are starting to slow economic growth,” said Steven Goldman, chief market strategist at Weeden & Co.

For the week, the Dow rose 0.5%, the S&P; added 0.2% and Nasdaq lost 0.4%.

The dollar continued its rise against the euro and the yen, spurred by the smaller-than-expected April trade gap. The euro fell to a nine-month low of $1.212 from $1.22 on Thursday. The dollar rose to 108.50 yen from 107.51.

Among the day’s highlights:

* General Motors rallied $2.70, or 8.5%, to $34.51, for the biggest jump in the Dow average, on reports that the United Auto Workers would negotiate with GM on cost cuts.

* Intel declined 72 cents to $26.98. The company said after the market closed Thursday that chip sales would be above expectations this quarter, but some investors had hoped for even better numbers.

Advanced Micro Devices dropped 64 cents to $17.57 and Texas Instruments slid 65 cents to $27.38.

* Wendy’s International climbed $1.39 to $47.90. Pershing Square Capital, the restaurant chain’s largest shareholder, hired Blackstone Group for advice on spinning off or selling company assets.