NEW YORK – Stocks labored through another choppy session Friday, with the Dow gaining and the Nasdaq lagging, as investors digested a mixed bag of earnings and economic reports, including a dour outlook from mobile phone giant Nokia (NOK).
The Dow Jones industrial average (search) rose 54.51 points, or 0.52 percent, to 10,451.97, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (search) added 5.73 points, or 0.51 percent, to 1,134.57. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index (search) ended down 6.43 points, or 0.32 percent, at 1,995.74.
For the week, the Dow rose 0.10 percent. But the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each notched their second straight down week. The S&P 500 declined 0.4 percent, while the Nasdaq fell 2.8 percent.
Technology stocks again bore the brunt of investors' anxiety, suffering after Nokia released a disappointing earnings report. General Electric Co. (GE) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) were the two biggest contributors to gains in the Standard & Poor's 500, but weakness in IBM capped the blue-chip Dow's rise.
The Commerce Department (search) reported a strong 6.4 percent rise in new housing construction for March, the biggest jump in 10 months. However, this was offset by a Federal Reserve (search) report which said that production in America's industrial sectors fell 0.2 percent after two months of gains, a far cry from the 0.3 percent hike economists expected.
But with surprisingly strong economic data this week, including a jump in retail sales, investors became concerned that the economy would grow too quickly, prompting the Federal Reserve to intervene sooner than expected with a rate hike to stave off inflation. And while many companies have been releasing good earnings reports, they were already factored into the market and so had little effect on the week's trading.
Traders attributed some of the market's moves to the expiration of options, an event that can add to volatility in the market. April individual equity options and some stock- index options stopped trading at Friday's close.
"Part of the gains have to do with options expiration. A lot of it is unwinding of option positions between now and the end of the day," said John O'Donoghue, co-head of listed trading at Credit Suisse First Boston. "It's very quiet otherwise."
Nokia (NOK) topped the New York Stock Exchange's most active list after warning that its second-quarter earnings would fall and sales could also drop.
Nokia, based in Finland, also said margins at its key mobile phones unit would be hit until its more competitive models hit stores. Shares of Nokia, the world's biggest cell phone maker, lost $1.44, or almost 9 percent, to $14.61.
IBM (IBM), shares fell a day after it reported its crucial services division had disappointing profits and shortfalls in new services contracts, a closely watched indicator of future business. Shares of IBM, the world's largest computer company, fell $1.69, or 1.8 percent, to $92.28 and led the Dow's percentage losers.
On the Nasdaq, Netflix Inc. (NFLX) shares sank one day after the online DVD rental company posted a wider quarterly net loss due to higher marketing costs. But the company raised its earnings forecast because of higher fees. Shares of Netflix plummeted $6.27, or 16.9 percent, to $30.75 and were the biggest drag on the Nasdaq.
Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) slipped 16 cents to $4.26 after a greater-than-expected loss for the quarter. The business computer and software maker recently announced a series of job cuts and other belt-tightening measures.
ETrade Financial Corp. (ETRD) gained 4 cents to $12.32 after beating estimates by 3 cents per share due to strong growth in core online banking and brokerage businesses. Delphi (DPH) reported lower earnings after its largest customer, General Motors Corp. (GM), cut production of new cars and trucks. It fell 2 cents to $9.81.
Volume was active, with about 1.49 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, and roughly 1.87 billion shares traded on the Nasdaq. Advancers beat decliners by a ratio of about 8 to 3 on the NYSE, and by roughly 16 to 15 on the Nasdaq.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 3.07, or 0.5 percent, at 583.37.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average gained 0.2 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 closed up 0.7 percent, France's CAC-40 rose 0.8 percent for the session and Germany's DAX index added 0.7 percent.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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