U.S. Indices Post Back-To-Back Losses

Stocks finished mixed, Friday, with the Dow Industrials and the Nasdaq Composite posting tiny gains, avoiding a fourth consecutive down day although trading showed little positive conviction. The broad-market Dow And S&P 500 each finished the week down, marking the first back-to-back down weeks since October 4.

Producer-price data for November continued to show no signs of inflation at the wholesale level, although market participants appeared unsure whether that would be enough to keep the Federal Reserve from beginning to curb its asset-buying program.

Winners And Losers
Industry sectors in the S&P 500 were split between winners and losers, led by gains for material stocks as gold and silver rose in commodities trade while energy shares paced decliners following a drop in crude oil prices.

There was mostly muted response to the Labor Department, which reported Friday an expected 0.1% decline in November producer prices. The core index reading, which excludes the volatile food and fuel costs, rose 0.1%, also matching Wall Street expectations.

Producer Prices
It was the third month in a row that prices at the wholesale level fell, the first time in just over a year that producer prices have declined for such an extended period. In the 12 months through November, producer prices are up 0.7% following a 0.3% rise in October.

Commodities were mixed. Crude oil for January deliver fell 93 cents to close at $96.53 per barrel. January natural gas declined 3 cents to finish at $4.36 per 1 million BTU. February gold rose $10.40 to $1235.10 per ounce while March silver added 13 cents to settle at $19.60 an ounce. Mar copper climbed a penny to finish at $3.31 per pound.

Here's Where The Markets Stood At Day's End

• Dow Jones Industrial Average up 15.93 (+0.10%) to 15755.36
• S&P 500 down 0.18 (-0.01%) to 1775.32 
• Nasdaq Composite Index up 2.57 (+0.06%) to 4,000.98

• Hang Seng Index up 0.12%
• Shanghai China Composite Index down 0.31% 
• FTSE 100 Index down 0.08%

• (+) RGDX, Prices public offering of 4.46 million shares of its common stock at $1.20 each - a 9% discount to yesterday's closing price.
• (+) PTIX, Accepts $42-mln buyout offering from Sonus Networks (SONS), with shareholders receiving $3.75 per share in cash for each share they now own. SONS expects the deal to add to FY15 earnings after costing the firm $0.02 or less in FY14. 
• (+) NMBL (+48.1%) Shares rally after the data-storage systems company prices initial public offering at $21 per share - above an already-hiked range of $18 to $20 a share.

• (-) XOMA, Prices offering of 50 million shares of its common stock at $5.25 each, generating $262.5 mln in gross proceeds. Underwriters received 30-day options to purchase up to 7.5 mln additional shares to cover possible over-allotments.
• (-) RH, luxury home-furnishings retailer says co-chief executive Carlos Albernini is leaving to run Lucky Brands, effective Jan. 31, 2014, pending its acquisition by Leonard Green & Partners LP. 
• (-) INSY, The Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services serves the company with a subpoena in a probe of potential violations involving agency programs.