With some disappointing quarterly results inspiring traders to cash in on recent gains, stocks moved mostly lower on Friday. The major averages closed lower for the third straight session, pulling back further off their recent highs.
The weakness in the markets was partly due to disappointing results from computer Dell (DELL), which reported third quarter earnings and revenues that fell short of analyst estimates. However, Dell said it expects fourth quarter revenue to improve over the third quarter.
Housing stocks turned in some of the market's worst performances, with D.R. Horton (DHI) helping to lead the way lower after reporting a wider than expected fourth quarter loss. The Philadelphia Housing Sector Index ended the session down 2.5 percent.
Significant weakness was also visible among oil service stocks, which moved lower along with the price of crude oil. Some networking, computer hardware, and gold stocks also posted notable losses, although most ended the day well off their worst levels of the day.
While the Dow briefly peeked above the unchanged line in the final hour of trading, the major averages all ended the day in the red. The Dow closed down 14.28 at 10,318.16, the Nasdaq closed down 10.78 at 2,146.04 and the S&P 500 closed down 3.52 at 1,091.38.
The major averages turned in a mixed performance for the week, with the Dow posting a modest gain. The Dow rose 0.5 percent for the week, while the Nasdaq fell 1.0 percent and the S&P 500 posted a more modest 0.2 percent weekly loss.
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