MarketView for March 2

Summary

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq equity indexes chalked up their eighth week of gains out of the last nine weeks, but momentum ran out on Friday as stocks ended the day lower in a thinly traded session. Energy shares were the largest losers in the broad decline, falling alongside crude oil prices, though other cyclical groups, including industrials and financials, also lost ground.

The S&P 500 has gained almost 9 percent since the beginning of the year. But mixed economic data and tensions between Iran and Israel have resulted in few reasons lately to chase the market higher after three straight winning weeks. The day's strongest sector was telecom. The group, which is considered a defensive play, was led higher by AT&T, up 0.8 percent at $30.87, and Verizon Communications, up 0.6 percent at $38.67. Both stocks are Dow components.

For the week, the Dow inched down 0.05 percent, while the S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq added 0.4 percent. On Tuesday, the Dow closed above 13,000 for the first time since May 2008, though it has subsequently struggled to maintain that level.

The Street kept a close eye on oil prices, which have risen more than 15 percent since the start of February. A steep rise in crude and gasoline prices could cut into consumer spending and damage the economic recovery. Domestic crude oil futures fell more than 2 percent, or $2.14, to settle at $106.70 a barrel a day after hitting a 10-month high above $110 on supply concerns in the Middle East.

The decline hit energy shares, sending the S&P energy sector index lower. Peabody Energy fell 6.5 percent to $32.89 while Exxon Mobil declined 0.6 percent to $86.33. The market capitalization of Exxon, at $409.25 billion the second-largest U.S. company, is now almost $100 billion less than Apple, the largest company.

The U.S. dollar's strength against the yen and the euro could continue to pressure oil and other commodity prices.

Yelp rose as high as $26 per share in its debut, up more than 70 percent from its IPO price. The initial public offering was priced at $15 a share, above the expected price range, valuing the U.S. consumer review website at nearly $900 million. Shares closed their first day of trading at $24.58, up 63.9 percent.

Wynn Resorts retracted an announcement that it had advanced a major project in Macau, saying it had been made in error after its shares surged on the news. Wynn Resorts' shares closed 4.3 percent higher at $127.27 after being halted earlier in the session.

Sara Lee will pay a special $3 dividend after it completes the spin-off of its coffee and tea business, expected by the end of June. Sara Lee's shares rose 7.1 percent to $21.83.

Shares of Shutterfly ended the day up 16.5 percent to $31.36 after bankrupt Eastman Kodak agreed to sell its online photo services business to Shutterfly for $23.8 million.

Volume was light, with about 6.02 billion shares changing hands on the three major equity exchanges, a number that was well below last year's daily average of 7.84 billion shares.

Nearly two-thirds of the shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange closed in negative