Markets Ends the Week Mixed; Dow and S&P Climb While Nasdaq Falls

The U.S. stock market closed mixed again on Friday, as declines in shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) continue to weigh on the Nasdaq. The major market story continues to be the fiscal cliff, but stocks got a boost from a better than expected jobs report which showed that employment climbed by 146,000 in November.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 81 points to close at 13,155. The widely watched blue-chip index traded in a range between 13,073 and 13,157.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY) climbed 0.31 percent to close at $142.41. Volume was lighter than normal with around 104.2 million SPY shares trading hands compared to a three month daily average of 133.3 million.

The PowerShares QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which tracks the performance of the Nasdaq 100, fell 0.60 percent and closed at $64.93. The move lower was largely attributable to another sell-off in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), which lost 2.56 percent on the day and 9 percent on the week.

Crude oil closed the last day of the week mixed. NYMEX crude futures, the U.S. benchmark, fell 0.28 percent to $86.02 while Brent crude contracts added 0.20 percent to $107.24. In ETF trading, the United States Oil Fund ETF (NYSE:USO) fell 0.44 percent to $31.53.

Precious metals closed near the flatline on the day. COMEX gold futures added 0.21 percent to $1,705.30 while silver futures were unchanged at $33.12. The heavily traded SPDR Gold Trust ETF (NYSE:GLD) rose 0.38 percent to $165.13.

Long-term Treasuries fell on the session. The iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE:TLT) lost 0.92 percent to $124.43. The yield on the 10-Year Note added 4 basis points to 1.63 percent.

The U.S. dollar rose on the day. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF (NYSE:UUP), which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of foreign currencies, gained 0.18 percent to $21.99. The closely watched EUR/USD pair was last trading at $1.2926.