U.S. Markets Finish Week Mixed As Oil Falls Again

New York, NY (AHN) - The markets opened higher Friday as industrial production for June was better than expected. However, the major indices never found any real conviction on the buy or sell side, finishing the session mixed.

The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 44 points or 0.38 percent on Friday. The average fell 0.6 percent for the week.

The S&P 500 added 5 points or 0.4 percent on the session, squeezing out a gain of 0.1 percent for the week. Strong most of the week, the Nasdaq Composite was relatively flat on Friday, but did add 1.6 percent on the week.

Crude oil fell as low as $111.34 in Friday trading, a level not seen since May 2. However, the commodity bounced off session lows, settling at $113.77, down $1.24 a barrel. Continued strength in the U.S. dollar has pressured oil price in recent weeks. The dollar index rose roughly 0.7 percent on Friday.

The retail sector, up 1.8 percent, provided the most strength as better than expected quarterly earnings out of Kohl's, Nordstrom and JC Penney helped spark a rally in the group. With oil falling more than 1 percent, the energy sector was the main laggard, shedding 1.6 percent on Friday.

On the economic front, industrial production data showed a 0.2 percent increase in June, economists were expecting productivity to remain flat in June.

The Empire State Manufacturing Index had a 2.8 reading, well above the negative 4.2 that was expected. The index is a regional survey of manufacturers conducted by the New York Fed.

Lowe's will kick off next week's earnings reports. The home improvement retailer reports earnings for the latest quarter before the open Monday.