US stocks hovered near the unchanged mark at the midpoint of the session on Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500 near record highs as investors assessed the impact of oil prices on the economy. A stronger dollar and decline in gasoline prices affected a trio of economic reports on Friday as overall retail sales rose more than expected, while US import prices fell in September by the most in more than two years.
In addition, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment for this month came in at 89.4, the highest since July 2007, buoyed by falling unemployment and gas prices. "Oil prices moving lower would be a net benefit from most people's perspectives because it frees up so much potential disposable spending on the part of the US consumer," said Peter Kenny, chief market strategist at Clearpool Group in New York. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 14.19 points, or 0.08 percent, to 17,638.6, the S&P 500 gained 0.08 points, or 0 percent, to 2,039.41 and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.70 points, or 0.08 percent, to 4,683.84.
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