Dow Sets Record, While Nasdaq Sees Weekly Fall

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks ended a volatile week on a positive note, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching a record close while the Nasdaq Composite posted its biggest weekly fall in four weeks as investors continued to dump tech shares and small-cap stocks.

Meanwhile, deal news from Apple may be on the way, but two giant ad firms called off their merger.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI) ended a choppy session up 32.37 points, or 0.2%, at 16,583.34, eclipsing the previous record close of 16,580.84 set on April 30. The blue-chip index saw a weekly rise of 0.4%.

The Nasdaq Composite(RIXF) advanced 20.37 points, or 0.5%, to end at 4,071.87, which still left the index with a 1.3% weekly decline. The S&P 500 (SPX) rose 2.85 points, or 0.2%, to 1,878.48, trimming its weekly decline to 0.1%.

Friday's session was light on top-tier economic data, though the so-called JOLTS report indicated a decline in job openings.

Colin Cieszynski, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, sees few catalysts for stocks in the near term, plus he pointed to the Federal Reserve continuing to taper its bond-buying program.

"With economic and corporate news flow slowing along with tapering compounding the reduced seasonal inflows of money from retirement saving, indexes remain vulnerable to a potential correction in the coming weeks within the established trading ranges that have prevailed since the start of 2014," Cieszynski said in a note Friday.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) ended the day down 0.4% following reports late Thursday that it's in talks to buy Beats Electronics for about $3.2 billion. Beats sells premium-sound headphones and speakers, and just launched a music-subscription service that could bolster Apple's presence in that market.

While Apple and Beats may be joining forces, advertising heavyweights Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) and Publicis Groupe SA have called off their $35 billion merger. Ominicom rose 2.2%.

In U.S. economic news on Friday, the JOLTS report said the number of job openings dropped in March to 4.01 million from 4.13 million. The quits rate, a measure of worker confidence, was unchanged, the Labor Department said. In addition, the Commerce Department said Friday that wholesale inventories rose 1.1% in March.

Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher, a voting member this year of the Fed's rate-setting committee, said he supports the central bank ending its bond-buying program in October.

While stocks bounced back Friday, tech and small-cap shares were still drubbed on the week. The First Trust Dow Jones Internet ETF(FDN) saw a 3.6% weekly decline, while the iShares Russell 2000 ETF(IWM) saw a weekly drop of 1.8%. On Tuesday, the small cap ETF closed under its 200-day moving average for the first time since November 2012.