By Laura Mandaro, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks wavered between small gains and losses Friday, as traders took cues from some disappointing global growth data this week to take profits. Still to come: data on U.S. new home sales.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -0.15% was down less than 1 point, or 0.1%, at 13,045.80. The S&P 500 SPX -0.19% was up 0.7 point at 1,393. The Nasdaq Composite COMP -0.35% fell 4.80 points, or 0.2%, to 3,058.38.
A close lower for the Dow and S&P 500 would be the indexes’ fourth straight loss and push weekly losses, of 1.5% and 0.9%, respectively, to their worst since mid-December.
Still, stocks are up between 7% and 17% higher this year, a heady move that had prompted strategists in recent weeks to say a correction was likely.
“Global confidence has pulled back somewhat this week, led by disappointing global PMI numbers,” wrote analysts at Barclays Capital.
Purchasing managers indexes in China and Europe that showed business activity in contraction weighed on commodities and global stocks this week.
“But we do not think these indicators necessarily signal the end of the risk asset rally. We do not expect a sustained correction and recommend repositioning portfolios toward assets that should benefit from a US-led recovery,” Barclays added.
