Market ends lower for 2nd time in 3 weeks

Updated: 7:24 p.m. ET

Stocks ended the day little changed, but the major averages finished lower for the second week in the last three.

The market gained strength from technology stocks, which rebounded from early-afternoon lows. Apple (AAPL) was the poster child for the rebound, falling below $600 for the first time since July 30 and climbing from a $591 low to a close of $604, a loss of $5.54. The company's fiscal-fourth-quarte​r earnings missed Street estimates and its guidance was also lower than expected.

Investors also bid shares of Amazon.com (AMZN) up $15.32 to $238.24 despite the company's loss for its third quarter. Investors are buying into the company's assurances that huge investments now will pay off later.

Financial stocks slipped as investors worried about economic conditions in Europe --Spain's unemployment rate hit 25% -- and the fiscal-cliff impact in the United States. There was some decent news: a better-than-expected​ third-quarter gain in gross domestic product, the key indicator of economic growth. GDP growth was an annualized 2%, the Commerce Department said, fueled by gains in consumer spending and housing investment.

The Dow Jones industrials ($INDU) closed up 4 points at 13,107. The blue chips had been down as many as 64 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) ended down 1 point to 1,412, but the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) was up 2 points to 2,988.

Article continues below.The Nasdaq-100 Index ($NDX) added 8 points to 2,666. The catalysts included Apple's recovery and Amazon's big gain as well as a big jump in earnings for online travel site Expedia (EXPE). The shares jumped $7.81 to $59.06.

Apple represents about 17% of the market capitalization of the index. Amazon also has a smaller but noticeable influence on the index.

The Dow ended the week down 1.8%. The S&P 500 was down 1.5%, while the Nasdaq fell 0.6%. A loss for October seems likely after four straight monthly gains and monthly losses only in May and June this year. The Dow is down 2.5% for the month, with the S&P 500 down 2% and the Nasdaq off 4.1%.

Despite the declines, the Dow is up 7.3% for the year, while the S&P 500 has gained 12.3%. The Nasdaq is up 14.7%.

Markets for the week
			10/26/2012			10/19/2012			% chg.			YTD chg.
Dow Industrials			13,107.21			13,343.51			-1.77%			7.28%
S&P 500			1,411.94			1,433.19			-1.48%			12.27%
Nasdaq			2,987.95			3,005.62			-0.59%			14.69%
Russell 2000			813.01			821.00			-0.97%			9.73%
Crude oil			$86.28			$90.44			-4.60%			-12.70%
(per barrel)			0.00			0.00			0.00%			0.00%
U.S. Dollar Index			80.16			79.69			0.59%			-0.45%
10-yr. Treasury			1.75%			1.77%			-1.02%			-6.47%
Gold			$1,711.90			1,724.00			-0.70%			9.26%

About that GDP growth
U.S. economic growth picked up in the third quarter as a late burst in consumer spending and a surprise turnaround in government outlays offset the first drop in business investment in more than a year.

The stronger pace of expansion, however, fell short of what is needed to make much of a dent in unemployment, and it offers little cheer for the White House ahead of the closely contested Nov. 6 election.

The 2% GDP gain was an improvement over the second quarter's 1.3% pace. A rate in excess of 2.5% is needed over several quarters to make substantial headway in cutting the jobless rate.

The report was a bit better than economists had expected, in part because of a surge in government defense spending that was not expected to last. That combined with the faster pace of household spending and a jump in homebuilding to strengthen domestic demand.

Meanwhile, the Thomson-Reuters/Univ​ersity of Michigan consumer sentiment index dropped from a preliminary reading given earlier this month. Most economists had expected the index to remain unchanged.

Energy prices -- New York close
			Fri.			Thur.			Month chg.			YTD chg.
Crude oil (-CL)			$86.28			$86.05			-6.41%			-12.70%
(per barrel)
Heating oil (-HO)			$3.0764			$3.0452			-2.62%			5.57%
(per gallon)
Natural gas (-NG)			$3.7240			$3.7810			12.17%			24.59%
(per mil. BTU)
Unleaded gasoline (-RB)			$2.6417			$2.6323			-9.53%			-0.59%
(per gallon)
Brent crude			$109.55			$108.49			-0.54%			2.02%
(per barrel)
Retail gasoline			$3.5750			$3.5990			-5.60%			9.13%
(per gallon; AAA)

Crude oil rebounds; gasoline moves lower
Light sweet crude oil (-CL) in New York settled up 23 cents to $86.28 a barrel after being down for much of the day. Brent crude settled up $1.06 to $109.55 barrel. The gains may be due to worries that Hurricane Sandy will disrupt refinery operations in the Northeast next week.

For the week, light sweet crude was down 4.6%. Brent was down 0.5%.

The retail price of gasoline was $3.575 a gallon, down from Thursday's $3.599, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. The price is down 3.8% for the week and 5.6% for the month, although up 9.3% for the year. AAA's national average peaked this year, however, at $3.936 on April 6, which represented a 20.2% increase on the year.

Gold (-GC) gave up early gains and settled down $1.10 to $1,711.90 an ounce. For the week, gold was off 0.7%. Silver (-SI) and copper (-HG) were lower as well.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 1.75% from Thursday's 1.828%. The dollar was higher against major currencies.

Citigroup shares slide on news hits
Citigroup (C) shares fell 81 cents to $36.60 after technology analyst Mark Mahaney was reportedly fired because he improperly disclosed revenue estimates on Google's (GOOG) YouTube business. At the same time, Citigroup agreed to a $2 million fine imposed by Massachusetts regulators after a junior analyst emailed two employees at a technology website seeking feedback on a Facebook (FB) document containing a senior analyst’s views and estimates.

At the same time, The New York Times reported that Vikram Pandit's departure as CEO on Oct. 15 was hardly his choice. Instead, he was offered the choice of resigning immediately or at the end of the year. Or being fired immediately.

The coup was orchestrated by Chairman Michael O'Neill, who became increasingly convinced Pandit, who wasn't a banker by training, was the wrong person for the job. Probably what tipped the issue was in March when the Federal Reserve denied Citigroup permission to raise its dividend.

Merck shares slip; Moody's jumps
Shares of pharmaceutical giant Merck (MRK) were off 15 cents to $46.15. The company said its third-quarter profit rose 2% to $1.76 billion, or 56 cents a share, from $1.72 billion, or 55 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted profit edged up to 95 cents a share from 94 cents. Sales fell 4% to $11.5 billion from $12 billion. But the strong dollar depressed non-U.S.results. Excluding the currency effect, sales were comparable to year-ago levels.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT) slumped by $1.28 to $11.02 after the company said weak demand in Europe held earnings back. Dealers on the continent are still working through excess winter tire inventory from last year..

Cable-and-broadcast operator Comcast (CMCSA) added $1.20 to $37.56. The majority owner of NBC said third-quarter profit more than doubled, boosted by advertising revenue, the sale of assets and a decrease in the loss of subscribers.

Moody's (MCO) added $2.17 to $47.89 after saying profit increased by 41% as companies took advantage of record investor demand and low borrowing costs by issuing debt.

Software developer CA (CA) fell $2.17 to $22.73. The company said it sees a 1% to 3% decline in full-year growth after it adjusted for currency fluctuations, down from a prior estimate of 1% to 2% growth. CA cited a 14% decline in second-quarter bookings due to lower sales in its enterprise solutions unit and lower mainframe capacity revenue. 

Deckers Outdoor (DECK) tumbled $6.01 to $29.48 after cutting its forecast for annual sales growth by almost two-thirds amid declining demand for its UGG sheepskin boots.

Short hits from the markets -- New York close
			Fri.			Thur.			Month chg.			YTD chg.
Treasury yields
13-week Treasury bill			0.1100%			0.110%			22.22%			1000.00%
5-year Treasury note			0.761%			0.819%			20.79%			-8.31%
10-year Treasury note			1.750%			1.828%			6.90%			-6.47%
30-year Treasury bond			2.918%			2.981%			-3.76%			1.00%
Currencies
U.S. Dollar Index			80.156			80.118			0.16%			-0.45%
British pound			1.6098			1.6126			-0.39%			3.61%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. $ in pounds			£0.621			£0.620			0.39%			-3.48%
Euro in dollars			$1.29			$1.29			0.66%			-0.14%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. $ in euros			€ 0.773			€ 0.772			-0.66%			0.14%
U.S. $ in yen			79.74			80.35			2.28%			3.43%
U.S. $ in Chinese			6.28			6.24			0.00%			-0.70%
yuan
Canada dollar			$1.002			$1.006			-1.40%			2.18%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. dollar			$0.998			$0.994			1.50%			-2.14%
(in Canadian $)
Commodities
Gold (-GC)			$1,711.90			$1,713.000			-3.50%			9.26%
(per troy ounce)
Copper (-HG)			$3.550			$3.5505			-5.53%			3.32%
(per pound)
Silver (-SI)			$32.036			$32.078			-7.35%			14.76%
(per troy ounce)
Wheat (-ZW)			$8.6375			$8.7275			-4.29%			32.32%
(per bushel)
Corn (-ZC)			$7.3775			$7.420			-2.45%			14.11%
(per bushel)
Cotton			$0.7242			$0.727			2.51%			-21.01%
(per pound)
Coffee			$1.5775			$1.610			-9.08%			-31.31%
(per pound)
Crude oil (-CL)			$86.28			$86.050			-6.41%			-12.70%
(per barrel)