NEW YORK — U.S. stocks on Friday ended mostly higher, with the major indexes scoring mixed results for the week, as Ambac Financial Group Inc. and MBIA Inc. had their credit ratings affirmed, while crude-oil futures finished lower.
“There is some fear the commodities complex is selling off because of a global economic slowdown,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co. “But for now, we’ll continue to celebrate cheaper oil and the stronger dollar.” After an early climb of nearly 100 points, the Dow Jones industrial average ended up 43.97 points to 11,659.90. The blue-chip index finished with a weekly loss of 0.6 percent.
Of the Dow’s 30 components, 22 finished with gains, led by Procter & Gamble Co., up 2.7 percent.
Chevron Corp. fronted declines among the blue chips, with shares of the oil giant down 2 percent.
The S&P 500 climbed 5.27 points to close at 1,298.20, a level that leaves it virtually flat, or up 0.1 percent from a week ago.
Of the S&P’s 10 industry groups, telecommunication services, financials and health care fronted sector gains. Among the standouts in the telecom sector, Sprint Nextel Corp. rose for a second straight day, its shares up 5.9 percent.
Energy stood out as the S&P’s only declining sector, off 1.7 percent.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.15 points to end at 2,452.52, giving the tech-laden index a weekly rise of 1.6 percent.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, oil for September delivery closed at $113.77 a barrel, down $1.24, or 1.1 percent, for the session. It lost 1.2 percent for the week.
Metals futures were also pounded, with gold for December delivery falling $22.40 to close at $792.10 an ounce, a weekly loss of 8.4 percent. Silver futures for September delivery fell 9.9 percent to end at $12.815 an ounce.
The dollar’s rally extended to multiple-month highs, with the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, climbing to an intraday high of 77.25, its highest level since December.
Treasury prices climbed, sending yields sharply lower, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note falling 4 basis points to 3.851 percent.
More than 1.1 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, with declining stocks edging just ahead of those advancing. On the Nasdaq, 771 million shares traded, and decliners ran ahead of advancing issues by 4 to 3.
Shares of J.C. Penney Co. gained 8.4 percent in the wake of the retailer’s second-quarter results, which had profits falling 36 percent.
Shares of Ambac Financial and MBIA gained after Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services late Thursday affirmed AA financial-strength ratings for both bond insurers.
Not all financial shares gained, with Wachovia Corp. among those under pressure. Shares of the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank fell 1.5 percent after regulators said Wachovia had agreed to a preliminary settlement under which it would offer to buy as much as $9 billion of auction-rate securities.
