NEW YORK — Blue-chip stocks rose Friday as a gauge of leading indicators climbed, boosting views of the U.S. economy. But the major indexes lost about 3 percent for the week, their worst performance in two months.
“Today we had some good U.S. economic news, and it continues a string of good news on the economy,” Mitch Schlesinger, chief investment officer at FBB Capital Partners, said of the Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators, which climbed 0.9 percent in October, its biggest jump since February. “Expectations are pretty good for the retail environment in the U.S., and most of the data we’ve seen recently is supportive of a moderately growing U.S. economy despite what is going on in the rest of the world.”
The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 25.43 points, or 0.2 percent, to 11,796.16, off 2.9 percent from the previous Friday’s close. That was its worst week since Sept. 23.
Twenty-one of the Dow index’s 30 components advanced, led by Hewlett-Packard. Shares rose 2.6 percent a day after the personal-computer maker said it had added Ralph Whitworth of hedge fund Relational Investors to its board.
Down 3.8 percent on the week, the S&P 500 ended down 0.48 point at 1,215.65, with utilities and financial companies faring best and technology and energy the weakest performers.
Leading declines on the S&P 500, shares of fell 10 percent a day after the provider of Web-based customer-management software projected a lackluster fourth quarter.
The Nasdaq composite fell 15.49 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,572.50, a level that had it down 4 percent from the previous Friday’s close.
The euro bought $1.3512, up from the prior session. Yields on 10-year Spanish bonds fell to 6.35 percent. Yields on benchmark French and Italian debt also fell.
“There are many factors in play in Europe, some of them economic or financial, but most of them political, and that adds a greater degree of uncertainty for stocks,” Schlesinger said.
