U.S. stock indexes end mixed; S&P 500 notches 3rd weekly gain

The S&P 500 notched its third straight weekly gain Friday, even as the major U.S. stock indexes ended the day mostly lower.

A slide in technology stocks, along with losses in consumerfocused and real estate companies, offset solid gains elsewhere in the market, including big Wall Street banks and industrial stocks.

Bond yields rose sharply after the government reported that Americans kept spending money in August, particularly on cars.

An easing of tensions in the costly trade war between the U.S. and China bolstered the market this week, renewing hope among investors that a new round of negotiations slated to begin next month may yield some progress.

Investors are now looking ahead to next week, when the Federal Reserve is expected to announce another interest rate cut. The central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate in July by a quarter point, its first cut in a decade, in a bid to help maintain U.S. economic growth.

“When you have a run like we had, the market tends to pull back,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. “Going into the Fed meeting next week, there may be a little bit of caution.”

The S&P 500 index slipped 2.18 points, or 0.1 percent, to 3,007.39. With a gain of about 1 percent this week, the benchmark S&P 500 moved closer to its alltime high of 3,025.86 set on July 26.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its eighth straight gain, rising 37.07 points, or 0.1 percent, to 27,219.52.

The technology heavy Nasdaq fell 17.75 points, or 0.2 percent, to 8,176.71. The Russell 2000 index of smallercompany stocks gained 3.07 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,578.14.

Smallercompany stocks were the big winners for the week as the Russell 2000 climbed 4.9 percent. The smaller, U.S.focused companies in the Russell are seen as more insulated from the volatile swings in the U.S.China trade war.

Investors’ renewed optimism on trade marks a stark contrast to the entire month of August, when both the U.S. and China made increasingly damaging retaliatory moves to escalate the dispute that has threatened to slow global economic growth and potentially prompt a recession.

“The palpable fear in the market during August has eased as the trade headlines have eased,” Krosby said. “But we also saw stimulus from the European Central Bank. The market applauded that and expects the Fed to cut rates.”

Central banks around the globe are trying to invigorate their economies at a time when growth is slowing. On Thursday, the ECB delivered a blast of monetary stimulus to try to rescue Europe’s teetering economy in the face of sputtering growth and uncertainties caused by the U.S.China trade conflict and Britain’s expected exit from the European Union.