Stocks notch tiny gains, but still end week lower

Source: AP-Excite

By MATTHEW CRAFT

NEW YORK (AP) — Summertime settled into Wall Street on Friday as major stock indexes drifted slightly higher going into the weekend. The listless day of trading left the stock market with a tiny loss for the week, its second this month.

A handful of corporate results drove trading in some big names. Warnings of weaker earnings pushed DuPont down, while stronger results pushed Nike up. But the overall market was essentially flat.

"The fact is, it's the summer, and there isn't much happening," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago.

That could change quickly. Turmoil in the Middle East could easily rattle U.S. markets, especially if the fighting in Iraq drives oil prices too high, Ablin said. Rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia also remain a concern.

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Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140627/us--wall_street-71c15d73af.html

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FILE - This Monday, July 15, 2013 file photo shows the American flag and Wall St. street sign outside the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. Asian stocks slumped Friday, June 27, 2014, after a reports showed weak U.S. consumer spending and slowing Chinese industrial profit growth, casting doubts on whether the world's two biggest economies can rebound. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)