Stocks edge up for third straight week

Wall Street ticked higher Friday to close out its third straight winning week, one punctuated by hopes that the economy can continue to steady itself despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The S&P 500 rose 9.16 points, or 0.3%, to 3,224.73 after yet another day of wobbly trading. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 62.76 points, or 0.2%, to 26,671.95, while the Nasdaq composite added 29.36 points, or 0.3%, to 10,503.19. Most stocks rose across the market.

Trading was muted across other markets too, with stocks overseas, oil and gold making relatively modest moves. Even China’s market held steady: Stocks in Shanghai inched up 0.1% after a run this month during which their average daily move was more than 2%.

Friday’s meandering trading came after reports showed a strengthening in U.S. home building activity but also a weakening in consumer sentiment. They’re the latest in a stream of data showing how uncertain the path is for the economy, as the continuing rise in coronavirus counts threatens to undo improvements that seemed to have taken root in the economy.

Amid the uncertainty, though, nearly 3 in 5 stocks rose within the S&P 500.

BlackRock rose 3.7% for one of the larger gains in the S&P 500 after the investment firm reported a stronger profit for the spring than analysts expected. J.B. Hunt Transport Services also reported a bigger profit than Wall Street forecast, and it rose 3.2%.

This week marked the start of earnings reporting season, and the nation’s largest banks were some of the early headliners. Several warned they had to set aside billions of dollars to cover loans potentially going bad because of the recession. But investment banks also said their trading operations brought in more revenue than analysts had expected.

On the losing end Friday was Netflix, which dropped 6.5%, the largest loss in the S&P 500. Its forecast for new subscribers during the summer fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. It’s a rare step down for Netflix, which is still up a bit more than 50% for 2020 so far.

This week has seen some weakness for big tech-oriented stocks generally, after they had glided through most of the pandemic. Investors have continued to bet that Apple, Microsoft and other giants can keep growing almost regardless of the economy. The big run has critics saying they’ve become too expensive, even after accounting for the huge profits they produce.