Stocks end down. Oil rises, shutdown looms.
Dow falls 29 points as gold soars to new record and oil prices reach highest level since 2008. Traders focus on impact on stocks of a potential government shutdown.
Trader Richard Newman, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange April 8, 2011. Stocks fell as oil and gold reached new highs.
Richard Drew/AP
By Abby Schultz and JeeYeon Park, CNBC.com
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Stocks posted modest losses ahead of the weekend, and ended largely flat for the week, amid surging oil prices, and as Congress seemed on track to trigger a government shutdown by failing to agree to a budget for the rest of the fiscal year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 29.44 points to close at 12,380.05. For the week, the Dow closed up 0.03 percent.
Among Dow components, Chevron was the best performer for the week, rising 1.25 percent, while Caterpillar was the worst, falling nearly 3 percent.
The S&P 500 fell 5.34 points, or 0.04 percent, to close at 1,328.17. For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.32 percent.
Exxon was the best S&P 500 performer this week, rising 1.5 percent, while Apple was the worst performer for the week, falling nearly 3 percent.
The Nasdaq fell 15.73 points, or 0.56 percent, Friday to close at 2,780.41. For the week, the Nasdaq fell 0.33 percent.
The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, rose to nearly 18.
Most of the market action on Friday was in commodities as gold soared to yet another new record, closing above $1,473 an ounce. Meanwhile, the dollar sank against the euro, which rose after the European Central Bank raised a key interest rate by 0.25 percent on Thursday.
Oil prices jumped to new records amid attacks on Libyan oil fields, and the sinking dollar. London Brent crude surged above $124 a barrel, while U.S. light crude rose $2.49 to settle at $112.79 a barrel, its highest close since September 2008.
Airlines, affected by rising fuel costs, posted the biggest drop as JetBlue, United Continental and Delta Airlines each dropped.
But energy companies climbed, including Suncor Energy and Nabors Industries. Murphy Oil also gained after the firm won approval to resume drilling a deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico. But Hercules Offshore tumbled after the oil explorer said it is under investigation by the Department of Justice and the SEC.
The budget negotiations haven't been a huge factor in trading as "it's universally thought there is going to be a deal," said Kevin Kruszenski, head of listed trading at KeyBanc Capital Markets.
Even if no agreement was reached, "It would have to be a prolonged slowdown for the market to really react," Kruszenski said.
Of greater interest to traders is the start of earnings season, which unofficially begins next Monday when Alcoa releases results after the market closes.
"Earnings season will be kicking off here soon, and people are clearing up some positions in that respect," Kruszenski said.
About a third of the economists, fund managers and strategists who responded to a CNBC Fed survey expect the Fed to raise interest rates this year, twice as many who thought that would be the case last month.
President Obama and Congress have yet to reach a budget agreement. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he expects Congress to reach a U.S. budget deal shortly, as lawmakers scramble to avoid a government shutdown due at midnight. Meanwhile, Republican House leader John Boehner implied that lawmakers are far from reaching a deal.
"The whole thing appears to be silly from the market's perspective," says John Canally, economist at LPL Financial. But, Canally adds, a government shutdown could have real effects on the economy.
One of the concerns is whether economic data released by agencies such as the Commerce Department or the Bureau of Labor Statistics will be made available.
"Near term we’re going to be flying blind on some of the data just at a juncture when you want to know," Canally said. (Read more: A Government Shutdown Could Shut Down Wall Street).
Volume is likely to pick up in the next few weeks as first quarter earnings season will unofficially kick off next week with Alcoa, the first Dow component to release results after the market's close on Monday. JPMorgan, Bank of America and Google are due to report later in the week.
“I think this market is just basically holding its breadth for earnings,” says Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners. “The key to earnings obviously is not going to be whether or not they meet or beat expectations, but the mea culpa of companies indicating next quarter is going to be tough due to the Japan earthquake. A lot of multinationals could sound the alarm of disappointing earnings going forward."
Toyota rose after the automaker announced it would resume production at its plants in Japan, although the company will resume at half capacity. And shares of Tokyo Electric Power gained after Mizuho Securities reiterated its "outperform" rating on the operator of a crippled nuclear plant and doubled its price target for the stock.
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