NEW YORK — U.S. stock benchmarks Friday extended gains to a third-straight week after a lackluster session highlighted by upbeat reports from Oracle and Research in Motion.
After brief forays into positive turf, the Dow Jones industrial average closed off 7.34 points, or 0.1 percent, at 11,491.91, with 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 ended up 1.04 points, or 0.1 percent, 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.
The Nasdaq composite climbed 5.66 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,642.97.
For the week, the Dow gained 0.7 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 added 0.3 percent, and the Nasdaq composite advanced 0.2 percent. It was the third straight week of gains for the Dow and S&P and the fourth for the Nasdaq composite.
For every seven stocks on the decline, eight were rising on the New York Stock Exchange.
Overseas concerns 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.
“Unfortunately we’re still in an environment where European sovereign debt is still an issue, and then the dollar goes up a bit, commodities go up a bit and U.S. equities get hit a little bit,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.
The Bank of Montreal said it would buy Wisconsin-based Marshall & Ilsley Corp. for $4.1 billion in stock, triggering a rally in regional bank stocks.
