Stocks close out best quarter in 5 years on a quiet note

NEW YORK—U.S. stocks ended back where they started Friday as the stock market wrapped up its best quarter in almost five years.

Health care companies did better than any part of the market during the third quarter and they continued to rise Friday, while technology companies rose as chipmakers also traded higher. Facebook said it discovered a security breach in which 50 million accounts were accessed by unknown attackers, and its stock fell again, ending its worst quarterly run in six years.

Global banks fell and European stocks skidded after Italy’s new government announced a big increase in spending. Italy’s main stock index fell almost 4 percent as investors worried that the government’s plan will lead to a clash with European Union leaders who want Italy to reduce its debt level.

Through the third quarter, pain in other markets led to gains for U.S. stocks, and that was true again Friday. The S&P 500 rose 7.2 percent, its biggest increase since the end of 2013.

One reason is that investors are worried about other regions, especially emerging markets. The currencies of Turkey and Argentina both dropped during the quarter and investors worried that their currency and economic problems would harm the rest of the world.

The S&P 500 index inched down 0.02 points to 2,913.98. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 18.38 points, or 0.1 percent, to 26,458.31. The Nasdaq composite added 4.38 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 8,046.35. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gained 6.04 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,696.57.

The spending plans announced by Italy’s new government would expand its budget deficit. European Union leaders want Italy to bring down its debt level, which is the highest of any EU country after Greece.

Italy’s FTSE MIB sank 3.7 percent while the German DAX gave up 1.5 percent. France’s CAC 40 lost 0.8 percent and the FTSE 100 index in Britain shed 0.5 percent.

Facebook fell 2.5 percent to $164.52 after it disclosed the breach. That capped a brutal three months for social media companies. Facebook plunged 19 percent on July 26 after it said user growth had slowed, a drop that slashed Facebook’s value by $119 billion, its biggest one-day loss as a public company.

Facebook fell 15 percent in the third quarter and Twitter dropped 35 percent, more than any other S&P 500 stock. Twitter was on a huge run until July 27, when it, too, it reported weak user growth. Investors also worried about the possibility of greater regulation of both companies following hearings in Congress.

Energy companies rose as benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.6 percent to $73.25 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 1.2 percent to $82.72 per barrel in London.

Wholesale gasoline added 0.9 percent to $2.10 a gallon. Heating oil rose 1.2 percent to $2.35 a gallon. Natural gas fell 1.6 percent to $3.01 per 1,000 cubic feet.