Stocks End Mostly Flat, Slump in Energy Offsets Retailers

U.S. stocks ended a holiday-shortened session mostly flat on Friday as a massive decline in the energy sector offset strength in consumer names. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.49 points, or 0.00%, to 17,828.24, the S&P 500 lost 5.27 points, or 0.25%, to 2,067.56. The Nasdaq Composite added 4.31 points, or 0.09%, to 4,791.63. For the week, the Dow rose 0.1%, the S&P rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq rose 1.7%.

U.S. crude fell 7 percent on OPEC’s decision to not cut output. U.S. crude’s front-month contract (CLc1) was down $5.42 at $68.27 a barrel at 11:56 a.m. EST (1656 GMT). The drop of more than 7 percent was the biggest daily fall since 2011.

Parking lots at some shopping malls filled up around the country on Friday, as shoppers kept up the tradition of scouring stores for holiday deals even though some retailers had been open on Thanksgiving and even overnight.