Stocks can't muster turnaround

End roller-coaster day in the red after Dow rises then falls over 100 points; oil jumps over $1, Treasurys rally.
Stocks made a late-day attempt at positive territory Friday, but in the end finished a roller-coaster day slightly lower as thin trading and rising oil prices overshadowed earlier economic news.

The 30-share Dow industrials (down 13.66 to 13,408.62, Charts) lost about 0.1 percent, while the broader S&P 500 (Charts) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (Charts) slipped about 0.2 percent. At one point the Dow was up over 100 points, then down by that much.


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"I don't see anything fundamental here, we probably just lost a lot of market participants," said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies and Co.

Hogan said trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq slowed considerably in the afternoon.

Todd Clark, director of stock trading at Nollenberger Capital Partners in San Francisco, said rising oil prices and continued inflation fears may be eroding the morning gains, but he also noted the upcoming holiday week and thin trading.

Oil rose over $1, bonds rallied and the dollar fell against the euro and yen.

Friday marked the last trading day for the first half of the year.

So far this year, the Dow is up 7.6 percent, the Nasdaq is up 7.2 percent, and the S&P is up 5.7 percent.

For the quarter, the Dow is up 8.5 percent, the Nasdaq is up 7.5 percent, and the S&P has risen 5.8 percent.

For June, the Dow is down 1.6 percent, the Nasdaq is even, and the S&P fell 1.8 percent.

For the week, the Dow added about 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq rose roughly 0.5 percent. The S&P 500 inched higher.

Next week the big number will be the monthly jobs report, set for release Friday.

Other than that, there's little in the way of earnings or other economic reports slated, and markets will close early on July 3 and remain closed July 4 for the Independence Day holiday.

As Clark put it, next week traders will be watching "burgers and dogs on the grill."