U.S. stock indexes cap choppy trading week with mixed finish

The Associated Press

Despite a choppy week of trading and a mixed finish for U.S. stocks, the market extended its recent streak of relative calm Friday.

The S&P 500, the market’s benchmark index, notched its 10th day in a row without a gain or drop of 1 percent or more.

That’s the longest stretch going back to Jan. 26, when the market broke four-and-a-half months of calm with a 1.2 percent gain, which also marked a record high.

Just one week later, the market entered an extended bout of volatility that included a rapid plunge of 10 percent in early February.

That was the first “correction” the market had seen in two years.

Since then, the market has returned to quieter trading, even as U.S. companies report fatter profits and investors grow anxious about rising interest rates and the threat of a trade war between the U.S. and China.

“Now it feels like investors are paralyzed trying to choose between a pretty solid economic picture and great earnings growth, and rising rates and ongoing geopolitical drama day to day,” said Craig Birk, executive vice president of portfolio management at Personal Capital.

The S&P 500 index fell 7.16 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,712.97. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.11 points to 24,715.09. The Nasdaq composite lost 28.13 points, or 0.4 percent, to 7,354.34.