US stocks ended flat on Friday as weak new home sales data reinforced concerns that the housing and mortgage markets may be far from a recovery, offsetting the energy sector's strength.
US new home sales fell much more than expected in November, to the slowest sales pace in 12 years, pulling down shares of home builders and the Dow Jones US Home Construction Index, which ended 2.6 percent lower.
Even though oil prices ended lower on the day, they were up nearly 3 percent for the week, partly reflecting concerns about global stability following the assassination on Thursday of Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
"When you look at some of the disappointing economic figures this morning, with new home sales ... and then, of course, the situation in Pakistan, we could have a very bad market, but we've got a basically flat market," said Al Goldman, chief market strategist at A.G. Edwards in St. Louis.
"It's normal profit-taking, with a limited audience, which tends to exaggerate moves," he said. "My feeling is that the bulls still have the bull by the horns, and we'll see the market working higher into the first week of January."
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 6.26 points, or 0.05 percent, to end at 13,365.87. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 2.12 points, or 0.14 percent, at 1,478.49. But the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 2.33 points, or 0.09 percent, at 2,674.46.
For the week, the Dow was down 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 was down 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq was down 0.7 percent. The day's trading volume remained well below normal levels because of the holidays.
Exxon Mobil Corp shares rose 1.4 percent to $95, and led the major advancers in both the blue chip Dow average and the S&P 500. An index of oil stocks was up 0.8 percent. US crude oil for February delivery fell 62 cents to settle at $96 a barrel, after earlier trading as high as $97.92. A report showing business activity in the Midwest expanded in December at the fastest pace since June also lent some support to stocks.
On the down side, shares of MBIA Inc and other bond insurers fell on news that billionaire investor Warren Buffett is starting up a rival bond insurer that aims to make it cheaper for cities and states to borrow. Buffett's move comes as the credit ratings of major US bond insurers, including MBIA and a unit of Ambac Financial, look shaky. The start-up insurer, Hathaway Assurance Corp, part of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, was set to begin operating on Friday in New York state.
Shares of MBIA plummeted 15.9 percent to $18.74 on the NYE, after dropping during the session to $18.43, its lowest level in 13 years. Ambac's stock tumbled 13.8 percent to $25.12. Shares of home builder Toll Brothers Inc slipped 1.4 percent to $20.06.
An S&P index of financial stocks fell 0.5 percent. Sovereign Bancorp Inc declined 4.9 percent to $10.96 on the NYSE after Lehman Brothers cut its price target on the company's stock. Trading was light on the NYSE, with about 1.03 billion shares changing hands, well below last year's estimated daily average of 1.84 billion. On Nasdaq, about 1.34 billion shares traded versus last year's daily average of 2.02 billion.
Advancing stocks slightly outnumbered decliners by 1,622 to 1,558 on the NYSE, while on the Nasdaq, the trend was the opposite - about 17 stocks fell on the Nasdaq for every 13 that rose.
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