S&P’s 159-point month its best ever

The stock market drifted lower Friday but finished October with its biggest monthly gain in four years.

Stocks were largely flat through much of the day Friday, venturing into positive territory in the early afternoon before ending lower.

The S&P 500 fell 10.05 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,079.36. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 92.26 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,663.54. The Nasdaq composite index slid 20.53 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5,053.75.

U.S. government economic data released Friday and earlier this week suggest the economy is still sluggish, stuck in a pattern of gradual but uneven growth that it has followed since the recession. But the outlook for future growth improved, and fears waned that a slowing Chinese economy would send the U.S. economy into a tailspin.

Strong corporate earnings in some sectors, like health care and telecommunications, also helped propel the market all the way back to positive for the year after a swoon in August and a rocky September.

Paul Christopher, global market strategist for Wells Fargo, said investors are now gaining confidence in the U.S. economy and are more hopeful that China won’t suffer an abrupt downturn.

“We could see investors finally put that correction in August and those fears permanently behind them,” he said.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index has risen for five consecutive weeks, and it ended

October up 8.3 percent, its best monthly percentage gain since October 2011. The index’s increase of 159 points was the biggest in its 77-year history. The next-best month was March 2000, the height of the dot-com bubble, when it rose 132 points.

Sam Stovall, U.S. equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ , said a very strong October usually means the market won’t make big gains in November and December, muting the so-called Santa Claus rally. He does expect stocks to keep rising for the rest of this year, though, and make gains in 2016, lifted by overall economic growth and improving corporate earnings.

He said 2016 “has a chance

of being a good year but not a great year” for equities. “Investors will continue to buy the dips until the prospect of either a U.S. or global recession spooks investors again.”

The busiest week of thirdquarter earnings wrapped up Friday with big moves for a slew of companies.

The professional networking service LinkedIn surpassed analyst estimates, and its stock rose $23.87, or 11 percent, to $240.87. Drugmaker AbbVie surged as sales of its anti-inflammatory Humira, the biggest-selling drug in the world, continued to rise. AbbVie rose $5.45, or 10.1 percent, to $59.55.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals suffered more losses Friday

as controversy around its drug prices and sales practices climbed. The stock sank $17.73, or 15.9 percent, to $93.77.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.14 percent.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose 53 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $46.59 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, advanced 76 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $49.56 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline rose 5.5 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $1.405 a gallon.

Heating oil picked up 2.5 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $1.499 a gallon. Natural gas rose 6.4 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $2.321 per 1,000 cubic feet.