S&P 500 Is Little Changed, Hovering Near 5-Year High

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Major U.S. stock averages were little changed during a volatile session on Friday as financial stocks were big drag after Wells Fargo(WFC) kicked off bank earnings with mixed results.

Policy news was also mixed Friday with China's faster-than-expected inflation pointing to a smaller chance of stimulus from the world's second-largest economy. Meanwhile, the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly deteriorated.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 17 points, or 0.13%, to 13,488. The index added 0.4% for the week.

Breadth was even on the blue-chip index. The sharpest percentage decliners were Boeing(BA) , Hewlett-Packard(HPQ) , Bank of America(BAC) and Pfizer(PFE)

Boeing shares fell Friday as the Federal Aviation Administration prepared to review the design, manufacture and assembly of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Boeing's Dreamliner suffered a series of mishaps this week. Shares tumbled 1.9%.

Blue-chip gainers included Chevron(CVX) , Merck(MRK) and Microsoft(MSFT)

Chevron shares rose 1.1% after the company said Thursday that fourth-quarter earnings would be "notably higher" than third-quarter profit, getting a lift from bigger gains on asset sales and more oil and gas production.

American Express(AXP) shares edged higher by 0.7%. The global-payments company said Thursday it was cutting 5,400 jobs, or about 8.5% of its workforce, and would take fourth-quarter restructuring charges of $742 million.

The S&P 500 closed down incrementally at 1,472 after soaring to a five-year high Thursday. The S&P gained 0.4% in the week's five trading sessions. The Nasdaq settled down 4 points, or 0.1%, to 3,126. The tech-heavy index climbed 0.8% for the week.

The biggest sector decliners in the broad market Friday were basic materials, capital goods and financials. Technology shares led industries trading higher.