Friday's early trade: stocks flat on mixed economic data

US stocks were flat on Friday, pointing to a week of modest losses as recent data painted a mixed picture of economic growth, though Wall Street's 2014 rally was expected to continue into the second half of the year. The S&P 500 was 0.3 percent away from a record closing high hit last week, but breaking decisively above that level may be difficult amid a dearth of catalysts. Still, with the second quarter nearing a close, the S&P 500 is up about 5.9 percent year-to-date.
Nike Inc rose 1.6 percent to $78.15 a day after its fourth-quarter earnings beat expectations. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 26.54 points, or 0.16 percent, to 16,819.59, the S&P 500 lost 0.59 points, or 0.03 percent, to 1,956.63 and the Nasdaq Composite added 6.83 points, or 0.16 percent, to 4,385.88. For the week, the Dow is down 0.8 percent and the S&P is down 0.3 percent. The Nasdaq, which is up 0.4 percent, is on track for its sixth weekly rise out of the past seven. The CBOE Volatility index is up 7.6 percent this week.