Stocks End Seventh Up Week in Mixed Territory

NEW YORK – Stocks ended mixed to lower Friday, but the losses were not enough to break Wall Street's winning streak of seven consecutive positive weeks.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 40.31 points at 8804.84. The Nasdaq Composite index finished higher 1.19 points at 1468.74, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index ended down 3.21 points at 930.55.

For the week, the Nasdaq gained 4.1 percent, the Dow average gained 2.6 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 2.3 percent.

"Since the market had a decent run up, you're bound to take a breather, especially going into the weekend," said Michael O'Hare, head of block trading at Lehman Brothers. "But institutions are putting money to work. I'm seeing a lot of buy orders."

Brocade (BRCD ), a data storage company, is expected to lead other technology companies lower on Friday after the firm on Thursday after the bell warned of lower-than-expected fiscal first-quarter revenue. Brocade fell $2, or 27.5 percent, to $5.28.

Shares of other data storage companies fell on the Brocade news. QLogic Corp. (QLGC) was off $1.24 to $43.26 and Emulex Corp. (ELX) slumped $2.91 to $24.67.

Business software maker Novell Inc. (NOVL) fell 12.9 percent to $3.38. The company said it expects fiscal first-quarter revenue to decline at least 6 percent from the fourth-quarter revenue results it posted on Thursday, saying it's traditionally a slow period.

Salomon Smith Barney cut its investment ratings on software companies Siebel Systems (SEBL) and PeopleSoft Inc. (PSFT) to "underperform" from "in line," saying software-related firms will likely give disappointing financial forecasts in coming months.

Still, Siebel shares closed up 8 cents at $8.75. PeopleSoft shares dropped $1.04 to $19.99.

Agile Software Corp. (AGIL), a maker of supply-chain management software, jumped 20 percent, or $1.52 to $9.14 after it reported a loss excluding charges that was narrower than expectations.

Investors have gained confidence in the stock market after a half-percentage point cut in interest rates two weeks ago, and signs the U.S. economic recovery is gaining steam.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (KKD) jumped $1.95, or 5.3 percent, to $38.90 after posting quarterly earnings that rose 55 percent as robust doughnut sales were complemented by a new coffee-selling initiative.

Shares of Cosi Inc. (COSI), a restaurant chain known for its sandwiches, jumped 8.6 percent, or 60 cents, to $7.60, on its first day of trading as a public company.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners about 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was moderate.

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, rose 2.32, or 0.6 percent, to 400.00.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average finished 1.2 percent higher. In Europe, France's CAC-40 rose 0.5 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.4 percent and Germany's DAX index rose 0.5 percent.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.