Major Averages Close Mixed Following Lackluster Session

(RTTNews) - After moving sharply higher over the course of the previous session, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Friday. The major averages fluctuated as the day progressed before ending the session mixed.

The Dow rose 153.30 points or 0.4 percent to 34,861.24 and the S&P 500 climbed 22.90 points or 0.5 percent to 4,543.06. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq recovered from its worst levels of the day but still closed down 22.54 points or 0.2 percent at 14,169.30.

For the week, the Dow edged up by 0.3 percent, while the S&P 500 jumped by 1.8 percent and the Nasdaq surged by 2.0 percent.

The lackluster performance on Wall Street came after the U.S. and the European Union signed an agreement for the supply of liquefied natural gas to reduce reliance on Russian supply.

On the U.S. economic front, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing pending home sales unexpectedly saw further downside in the month of February.

NAR said its pending home sales index tumbled by 4.1 percent to 104.9 in February after plunging by 5.8 percent to a revised 109.4 in January. The continued decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the index to rebound by 1.0 percent.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

Meanwhile, revised data released by the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. fell by more than initially estimated in the month of March.

The report showed the consumer sentiment index for March was downwardly revised to 59.4 from the preliminary reading of 59.7. Economists had expected the index to be unrevised.

With the unexpected downward revision, the consumer sentiment was at its lowest level since hitting 55.8 in August of 2011.

Sector News

Despite the lackluster performance by the broader markets, oil service stocks moved sharply higher on the day, driving the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 4.7 percent.

The rally by oil service stocks came as the price of crude oil for May delivery jumped $1.56 to $113.90 a barrel on news of a missile strike at an oil storage depot in Saudi Arabian city Jeddah.

Substantial strength was also visible among natural gas stocks, as reflected by the 4.8 percent spike by the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index. The index reached its best closing level in almost five years amid a sharp increase by the price of natural gas.

Airline stocks also turned in a strong performance on the day, resulting in a 1.8 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.

Oil producer, tobacco and utilities stocks also saw considerable strength, while biotechnology stocks showed a notable move to the downside.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slumped by 1.2 percent.

Meanwhile, European stocks saw modest strength on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index ended the session nearly unchanged, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index both edged up by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries moved sharply lower amid growing expectations the Federal Reserve plans to raise interest rates more aggressively. Subsequently, the yield on the bench mark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 15.1 basis points to 2.492 percent.

Looking Ahead

The Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report is likely to be in the spotlight next week, while traders are also likely to keep an eye on a report on personal income and spending.