Stocks showed a lack of direction throughout the trading session on Friday, as traders seemed reluctant to make any significant moves following the recent rally. The markets eventually ended the choppy trading session nearly flat.
While most of the major sectors showed only modest moves, significant weakness was visible among airline stocks. Reflecting the weakness in the airline sector, the NYSE Arca Airline Index tumbled by 2.6 percent.
US Airways (LCC) and Delta (DAL) turned in two of the airline sector's worst performances, falling by 5.7 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively.
Housing stocks also showed a notable move to the downside on the day, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 1.3 percent. The loss by the index came after it ended the previous session at a three-year closing high.
Meanwhile, oil service stocks saw considerable strength, resulting in a 2.9 percent gain by the Philadelphia Oil Service Index. The strength in the sector comes as crude for April delivery jumped $1.95 to $107.06 a barrel.
Significant strength also emerged among natural gas stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index.
The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before finishing the session mixed. While the S&P 500 crept up 1.57 points or 0.1 percent to 1,404.17, the Dow slipped 20.14 points or 0.2 percent to 13,232.62 and the Nasdaq edged down 1.11 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 3,055.26.
Despite the mixed performance on the day, the major averages all showed strong upward moves for the week. The Dow and the S&P 500 both rose by 2.4 percent, while the Nasdaq climbed 2.2 percent.
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Market Analysis
June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.