Major Stock Indexes Slip
The stock market ended mixed Friday after three days of gains, as some investors pulled back ahead of the holiday weekend.
Major indexes still posted hefty advances for the week.
In the bond market, Treasury yields declined even though the government reported a larger-than-expected jump in wholesale prices in January.
Stocks opened modestly lower, weighed down in part by computer giant Dell Inc.’s slide in the wake of its disappointing profit forecast late Thursday. Dell slumped $1.58 to $30.38.
A rebound in oil prices also caused fresh concerns on Wall Street. Near-term crude futures jumped $1.42 to $59.88 a barrel in New York after Nigerian militants reportedly declared “total war” on oil companies operating there, raising the specter of reduced shipments.
Still, it wasn’t clear whether militants had “the ability to cause more than a minor annoyance,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Mass.
On Wall Street, key indexes edged higher for most of the day after their early declines. Another mild sell-off hit late in the session.
The Dow Jones industrial average finished with a loss of 5.36 points, or 0.1%, to 11,115.32.
The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped 2.14 points, or 0.2%, to 1,287.24, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq composite was down 12.27 points, or 0.5%, to 2,282.36.
But rising stocks outnumbered losers by about 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange. Losers had a modest edge on Nasdaq.
For the week, the Dow jumped 1.8%, the S&P; 500 rose 1.6% and Nasdaq gained 0.9%. The Dow reached a 4 1/2 -year high of 11,120.68 on Thursday.
Year to date, the Dow is up 3.7%, the S&P; is up 3.1% and Nasdaq is up 3.5%. The average domestic stock mutual fund is up 4.2%, according to Morningstar Inc.
The stock market had been buoyed for much of the week by more signs of strength in the economy, including a surprisingly large jump in retail sales in January.
New Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke also gave an upbeat assessment of the economy in congressional testimony Wednesday and Thursday.
Although the economy’s health is making it all but certain that the Fed will raise its key short-term interest rate, now 4.5%, at least two more times, stock investors so far seem to be OK with that, analysts say.
The bond market may have helped to underpin stocks on Friday, as Treasury yields fell despite the wholesale inflation report. Because shorter-term bond yields have risen sharply in recent weeks, the inflation data had no shock value, analysts said.
“The market is basically ignoring it,” said Dominic Konstam, a rate strategist at Credit Suisse Securities USA.
The yield on the two-year T-note eased to 4.66% from a five-year high of 4.69% Thursday. The 10-year T-note dropped to 4.54% from 4.59%.
Among Friday’s market highlights:
* Some industrial stocks continued to rally on optimism about the economy. Winners included mining equipment maker Bucyrus, up $1.95 to $64.50; Deere, up $1.19 to $76.19; and Textron, up $1.75 to $86.53.
* Real estate investment trust shares were strong, lifting a Bloomberg index of 157 REIT shares 0.7% to a record high. It is up 8.7% year to date. Mack Cali Realty jumped $1.31 to $46.41, Boston Properties surged $2.14 to $83.96 and Public Storage was up 73 cents to $76.75.
* Tech shares weakening with Dell included Microsoft, down 11 cents to $26.70, and Cisco Systems, off 12 cents to $19.86.
Chip giant Intel dropped 74 cents to $20.61, a 52-week low. The SOX index of 19 major chip firms lost 1.9%, but still is up 11.7% this year.
* Major European market indexes edged up to new multiyear highs. The French CAC index gained 0.5% to close at exactly 5,000, its highest since 2001. It is up 6% this year in euro terms.
