NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock benchmarks Friday extended gains to a third-straight week after a lackluster session highlighted by upbeat reports from Oracle Corp. and Research in Motion Ltd.
After brief forays into positive turf, the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (DJIA 11,492, -7.34, -0.06%) closed off 7.34 points, or 0.1%, at 11,491.91, with its 17 of its 30 components lower. Disappointment over the outcome of a European Union summit, which bolstered the U.S. dollar, weighed on the index.
The S&P 500 /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:in\x (SPX 1,244, +1.04, +0.08%) ended up 1.04 points, or 0.1%, at 1,243.91, with materials the best performer and telecommunications the weakest of its 10 industry groups. It was the benchmark’s highest close since September 2008.
“The market is saying, ‘We’re going to wrap it up for the year,’ and today we’re meandering around zero,” said John Canally, an analyst at LPL Financial.
Friday’s quarterly options and futures expiration had the possibility of adding volatility to the market as traders closed out positions, analysts said, although as the afternoon progressed, that did not appear to be the case.
he Nasdaq Composite /quotes/comstock/10y!i:comp (COMP 2,643, +5.66, +0.21%) climbed 5.66 points, or 0.2%, to 2,642.97.
For the week, the Dow gained 0.7%, the S&P 500 added 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.2%. It was the third-straight week of gains for the Dow and the S&P 500 and the fourth for the Nasdaq Composite.
For every seven stocks on the decline, eight were rising on the New York Stock Exchange, where 2 billion shares traded hands.
Signaling the recovery should pick up steam early next year, the Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators in November made its biggest jump in eight months. Read more about leading indicators.
The index, which tracks data including orders for new goods, climbed 1.1%, as economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected.
Moody's downgrades Irish debt
The ratings agency downgrades Ireland's sovereign debt, impacting markets and the euro.
Concerns from overseas were again in play after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Ireland’s government-bond rating by five notches and said the country had a weak economic outlook.
Technology offered investors a bit of bullish momentum, with quarterly results from software giant Oracle /quotes/comstock/15*!orcl/quotes/nls/orcl (ORCL 31.46, +1.19, +3.94%) and Blackberry maker Research In Motion /quotes/comstock/15*!rimm/quotes/nls/rimm (RIMM 60.20, +0.96, +1.62%) topping Wall Street’s expectations late Thursday. Oracle shares ended up 3.9%, while Research in Motion’s U.S. shares gained 1.6%.
Ahead of Wall Street’s open, the Bank of Montreal said it would buy Wisconsin-based Marshall & Ilsley Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!mi/quotes/nls/mi (MI 6.85, +1.06, +18.31%) for $4.1 billion in stock, triggering a rally in regional bank stocks. Read more about M&I deal.
On Friday, President Barack Obama signed a bipartisan tax package, extending Bush-era tax cuts for virtually all American workers for another two years. The U.S. House passed the legislation Thursday nigh
