NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks wavered between tiny gains and losses on Friday, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average eked out another record high. Virgin America jumped 30 percent in its market debut. Energy companies also rose as the price of crude oil turned higher.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell less than one point to 2,038 as of 1:14 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow slipped 16 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,636. The Nasdaq composite rose three points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 4,683.
VIRGIN SURG'IN: Shares of Virgin America, an airline backed by billionaire Richard Branson, soared 30 percent in its initial public offering. The price jumped $6.64 to $29.64.
ENERGY JOLT: Energy stocks rose 0.2 percent as oil prices increased, a reversal from Thursday's slump. Benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.06 cents to $75.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Energy stocks had fallen 10 percent in three months as the price of crude plummeted to a four-year low.
HERTZ HURTS: Hertz Global Holdings sank 13 percent after announcing it needs to restate its financial results for 2012 and 2013. The car-rental company fell $2.90 to $19.83.
NORDSTROM BUMP: The high-end retailer rose $1.16, or 1.6 percent, to $74.41 after reporting earnings that was higher than financial analysts had expected.
SPENDING BAROMETER: Retail sales rose modestly in October, evidence that recent job gains and lower gas prices are lifting consumer spending as the holiday shopping season begins. The Commerce Department said sales rose 0.3 percent, after falling by the same amount in September.
THE QUOTE: "American consumers are starting to spend again," said John Manley, chief stock strategist at Wells Fargo Funds, which manages $250 billion. "More people are working … and that makes us a little freer at the cash registers."
EUROPE'S DAY: France's CAC 40 rose 0.4 percent and Britain's FTSE 100, 0.3 percent. Germany's DAX was flat.
EUROZONE GROWTH: The 18-country eurozone grew 0.2 percent in the third quarter compared with the previous three months. That was better than expected, but still sluggish and unlikely to bring unemployment down significantly anytime soon.
CURRENCIES: The dollar strengthened to 116.32 yen from 116.07 in late trading Thursday. The dollar weakened against the euro. One euro fetched $1.2517, up from $1.2466.
BONDS: The price of U.S. government bonds rose a sliver. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.33 percent from 2.34 percent on Thursday. Yields move in the opposite direction to the price.
– by AP Reporter Bernard Condon
