Stocks Ended Mixed, But Posted Weekly Losses

U.S. stocks Ended Mixed on Friday, but posted losses for the week, which was dominated by fears that the Federal Reserve may begin pulling back stimulus later this year. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 41.08 points, or 0.28 percent, at 14,799.40. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 4.24 points, or 0.27 percent, at 1,592.43. The
Nasdaq Composite Index was down 7.38 points, or 0.22 percent, at 3,357.25. For the week, the Dow fell 1.8 percent, the S&P lost 2.1 percent and the Nasdaq declined 1.9 percent.

Former fund manager John Mattera was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Friday, after pleading guilty of defrauding investors of $13 million with a story that he put their money in Facebook Inc and Groupon Inc shares before the companies went public.

The U.S. government is moving toward easing restrictions on airline passengers using electronic devices to listen to music, play games, read books, watch movies and work during taxiing, takeoffs and landings.

Unemployment rates fell in 25 states in May, the government reported Friday. Seventeen states had increases while jobless rates were unchanged in eight states plus the District of Columbia.

Gold prices ended slightly higher on Friday but swung to a weekly loss of nearly $100. Gold for August delivery gained $5.80, or 0.5%, to $1,292.10 an ounce, but posted a weekly loss of $95.60.