Investors look for holiday trends

Associated Press

NEW YORK

The stock market fizzled Friday at the end of a holiday-shortened trading day but still logged its longest streak of weekly gains in a decade.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index ended down 1 point, or 0.1 percent, to 1,805.81. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 10 points, or 0.1 percent, to 16,086.41.

Investors watched for early trends in holiday sales as the busiest shopping day of the year, Black Friday, got underway. Retailers were one of two industry groups in the S&P 500 to rise.

Stocks overall have surged this year as the economy maintains a slow but steady recovery and corporations keep earnings growing. Demand for stocks also has been bolstered by Federal Reserve policies that have held down interest rates, making bonds less attractive investments than stocks.

Stocks rose for most of the day Friday but petered out in the last half hour of trading. The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq closed early, at 1 p.m., and activity was lower than average a day after Thanksgiving. Thin trading can lead to sudden swings in markets.