Stocks Ended Mixed, Oil Futures Fell

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday, with the S&P 500 closing lower and logging first weekly drop in three weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.98 point, to 31,494.32. The S&P 500 fell 7.26 points, or 0.19%, to 3,906.71. The Nasdaq Composite gained 9.11 points, or 0.07%, to 13,874.46. For the week, the Dow gained 0.1%, the S&P 500 saw a fall of 0.7% and the Nasdaq declined 1.6%.

Oil futures fell Friday, with the U.S. benchmark ending back below the $60-a-barrel level and posting a loss for the week, on expectations that crude output shut down by winter storms in Texas will soon be restored. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery fell $1.28, or 2.1%, to settle at $59.24 a barrel. April Brent crude fell by $1.02, or 1.6%, at $62.91 a barrel. WTI saw a weekly loss of 0.4%, while Brent was up 0.8%, for its fifth consecutive weekly climb, after hitting 13-month highs earlier in the week.

Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. unexpectedly increased in January, extending 2020’s strong run of housing market activity. Existing home sales rose 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.69 million in January, reaching a three-month high, according to the National Association of Realtors.