Market Hugs The Flatline to Close Week

The U.S. stock market closed the trading week with a flat session on Friday. The major averages spent most of the day in negative territory, but a late day rally brought the Dow and S&P slightly into the green. The Nasdaq finished with a very small loss.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added a little less than three points and closed the week just above 13,024. The widely watched index traded in a range between 12,988 and 13,053.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY) closed the session down 0.02 percent while the S&P 500 cash index finished up 0.02 percent. The SPY closed the week at $142.09. Volume was light on Friday with only 105 million SPY shares trading hands compared to a three-month average of 133 million.

The PowerShares QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which tracks the performance of the Nasdaq 100, fell 0.17 percent to close the day at $65.80. The broader Nasdaq Stock Market registered a loss of just 0.06 percent.

Crude oil rose for the second straight day. NYMEX crude futures, the U.S. benchmark, climbed 0.89 percent to $88.85. Brent crude contracts added 0.37 percent to $111.17. In ETF trading, the United States Oil Fund ETF (NYSE:USO) jumped 1.21 percent to close at $32.56.

Precious metals recorded moderate losses on the session. COMEX gold futures fell 0.76 percent to $1,716.40 while silver futures lost 2.66 percent to $33.52. The heavily traded SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSE:GLD) lost 0.71 percent to close at $166.05.

Treasury prices were slightly lower on Friday. The iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE:TLT) lost 0.27 percent to $124.79. The yield on the 10-Year Note was flat at 1.62 percent.

The U.S. dollar was also down slightly on the session. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF (NYSE:UUP), which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of foreign currencies, fell 0.09 percent to $21.92. The closely watched EUR/USD pair closed at $1.2981, essentially flat on the day.