S&P Posts Tepid Weekly Gain, Logs Fresh Record Close

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The S&P 500 posted a mild weekly advance amid upbeat earnings, strong data and dovish Fed commentary. The move pushed the broad-market barometer to a fresh closing high.

Today's Markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.8 points, or 0.03%, to 15544, the S&P 500 rose 2.7 points, or 0.16%, to 1692 and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 23.7 points, or 0.66%, to 3588.

For the week, the Dow rose 0.51%, the S&P 500 advanced 0.71% and the Nasdaq fell 0.35%. With little in the way of economic data on tap, traders had a slew of earnings results to digest on Friday.

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) both reported disappointing earnings after the closing bell on Thursday. Shares of the technology heavyweights plummeted in early trading.

Meanwhile, diversified manufacturing behemoth General Electric (NYSE:GE) weighed in with a second-quarter beat, sending its shares climbing. Fellow industrial Honeywell (NYSE:HON) also revealed better-than-expected results.

Schulmberger (NYSE:SLB), the world's biggest oilfield servicing company, also unveiled earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations as it boosted drilling operations outside North America.

Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China said it is relaxing controls on deposit rates bank pay by slowly lifting the floor that is currently in place. Markets in Europe popped slightly on the news.

In commodities, oil prices climbed to $108.46, or 0.42%, to $108.49 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline rallied 1.1% to $3.145 a gallon. Gold climbed $5.90, or 0.46%, to $1,291 a troy ounce.

Foreign Markets

The Euro Stoxx 50 fell 0.15% to 2714, the English FTSE 100 dipped 0.14% to 6625 and the German DAX slumped 0.05% to 8333.

In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 sold off by 1.5% to 14590 and the Chinese Hang Seng ticked up 0.08% to 21362.