New York – U.S. stocks closed higher on the day Friday but down on the week after investors cautiously picked out attractively valued shares after two days of heavy selling. Gains were constrained by interest-rate uncertainty and worries that a commodities selloff could signal an economic slowdown.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 15.77 points to 11,144.06. Of the benchmark index’s 30 components, 18 finished in positive territory.
The Nasdaq Composite Index finished up 13.56 points at 2,193.88, breaking the tech-oriented index’s eight-day losing streak. The Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 5.22 points to close at 1,267.03.
For the week, the Dow lost 2.1 percent, the Nasdaq took a 2.2 percent loss and the S&P 500 lost 1.9 percent.
The technology sector was a focus Friday after Dell Inc. announced an agreement to use chips made by Advanced Micro Devices in some higher-end servers. Until now, Dell has used microprocessors from Intel Corp. exclusively.
Intel shares fell as much as 3.8 percent to a three-year low of $17.94 but later closed at $18.35. AMD closed off its highs, up 3.6 percent at $34.95.
Nervousness about inflation inspired some heavy selloffs earlier in the week, but opportunism drove trade Friday.
“It’s very predictable that at some point you are going to invite some bargain hunters in the market after the selloff we’ve had over the last three to four days,” said Hugh Johnson, chairman of Johnson Illington Advisors. “What’s driving it is some declines in commodities prices.”
Johnson said the selloff in commodities can be interpreted in two ways: “If you saw commodities selling off from levels that were low and normal, then it would be troubling. But they are selling off levels that are arguably speculative, and therefore that’s not troubling at all.”
At the same time, Johnson said it could be argued that the market has been sending a message that “the decline in the commodities reflects a concern about the future of the global economy.”
He said some investors fear the Federal Reserve will go too far in raising interest rates, putting a sharp brake on growth.
On the broader market for equities, decliners led advancers Friday by 19 to 13 on the New York Stock Exchange, while there were 17 rising shares for every 13 dropping stocks on the Nasdaq. Volume was 2.21 billion shares on the Big Board and 2.558 billion on the Nasdaq.
The U.S. dollar climbed to a two-week high versus the yen. The dollar late in Friday’s session was up 1 percent at 111.72 yen. The euro, meanwhile, was down 0.6 percent at $1.2769.
Gold for June delivery fell $23.40 to $657.50 an ounce Friday. On the week, the contract fell 7.6 percent.
