Friday's Market Wrap: Major Averages Close Mixed To End Week

The major U.S. equity averages finished Friday's session on either side of the unchanged mark, with the Dow and S&P recording small losses while the Nasdaq finished in the green.

On Thursday, all three major averages closed at new all-time highs, the first time that has happened since 1999. While the Nasdaq made a new all-time high on Friday, the Dow and S&P retreated but remain near all-time high levels.

Shares of Acacia Communications, Inc. ACIA soared on the back of the company's second-quarter earnings results, closing the session up 41 percent to $95.67. Planet Fitness Inc PLNT added 10 percent after reporting better-than expected results. The stock closed at $22.36. Steel stocks fell during Friday's session. United States Steel Corporation X lost 7 percent to $21.06 and AK Steel Holding Corporation AKS fell 6 percent to $5.03.

Major Averages

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 37 points, or 0.20 percent, to close at 18,576.

The S&P 500 fell less than 2 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,184.

The Nasdaq climbed a little better than 4 points, 0r 0.09 percent, to 5,233.

PPI and Core PPI

The Producer Price Index for July fell 0.4 percent compared to consensus estimates for a flat reading. In the prior period, PPI was up 0.5 percent. Core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, fell 0.3 percent, well below the consensus estimate calling for a gain of 0.2 percent. In June, core PPI rose 0.4 percent.

Consumer Sentiment

The preliminary Michigan Consumer Sentiment reading was 90.4 for August compared to a prior reading of 90.0 and consensus estimates of 90.2.

Commodities

The commodity complex was slightly higher, with the Bloomberg Commodity Index rising 0.10 percent.

NYMEX crude oil futures gained 2.67 percent to $44.65 while Brent contracts added 2.35 percent and finished at $47.12. Natural gas futures were up 1.53 percent to $2.59.

Precious metals traded lower on Friday. COMEX gold futures were down 0.66 percent to $1,341.10. The SPDR Gold Trust ETF GLD lost 0.21 percent to $127.40. Silver futures fell 1.50 percent to $19.72 on the session. The iShares Silver Trust ETF SLV traded down 1.27 percent to $18.72.

In the grains complex, corn and wheat were higher on the session. Corn futures closed out the week with a gain of 0.38 percent to $3.3300 per bushel while wheat futures added 1.50 percent to $4.2250.

Bonds

Treasury prices were higher. At the close of equities, the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT had surged 0.84 percent to $140.08.

Treasury yields were as follows on Friday afternoon: The yield on the 2-Year Note was 0.71 percent. The 5-Year Note was yielding 1.10 percent. The 10-Year Note was last yielding 1.51 percent while the 30-Year Bond yield was 2.23 percent.

Currencies

The U.S. Dollar was slightly lower on Friday. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF UUP, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of foreign currencies, fell 0.16 percent to $24.75. The closely watched EUR/USD pair climbed 0.22 percent to 1.1162 euros.

Volatility and Volume

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was lower on the day and continues to sit near 52-week low levels as market volatility and economic worries remain muted. The VIX fell 1.11 percent to 11.55 to close out the week.

Volume was lighter than normal on Friday with around 46 million shares of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF SPY trading hands versus a 3-month daily average of 94 million shares. Trading in the PowerShares QQQ Trust QQQ, which tracks the Nasdaq 100, was also below average with around 17.3 million shares trading hands compared to a 3-month daily average of 23 million.