U.S. stocks ended mixed Friday over doubts on the European debt deal, but closed the week with gains of over 3 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 22.56 points, or 0.18 percent, to close at 12,231.11. The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 0.49 points to close at 1,285.08. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.48 points to 2,737.15.
For the week, the Dow surged 3.6 percent, registering a fifth consecutive weekly gain, its longest winning streak since January. The S&P and the Nasdaq soared 3.8 percent for the week, making it the best month since January 1987.
The three major indexes rallied about 3 percent Thursday, boosted by the European debt deal. Risk appetite was bolstered as investors saw the deal as a critical step towards solving the two-year-old European sovereign debt crisis.
EU leaders agreed on a 50-percent "haircut" on Greek bonds to lower the country's debt burden, and they decided to expand the region's rescue fund to 1 trillion euros, recapitalize European banks and urge Italy to complement the austerity plan.
But ratings agency Fitch said Friday that the cut would create a default for Greece and would still be insufficient to solve its problems permanently.
Optimism faded as investors started to doubt the implementation details of the newly reached debt deal. Markets reflected investors' view that until the eurozone leaders finalize the full package in early December, there were still uncertainties.
On the economic front, the final reading of the Reuters/University of Michigan gauge of consumer sentiment moved up to 60.9 from a preliminary reading of 57.5, and topping estimates of 58.
A separate report showed U.S. personal spending rose 0.6 percent in September while personal income added 0.1 percent.
Among all the S&P sectors, materials and technology were the biggest winners, while consumer stocks and utilities posted limited gains.
Whirlpool Corp. tumbled 14 percent, the most in the S&P index, after the appliance maker said it would cut 5,000 jobs because of weak demand and higher costs for materials.
In sum, the Dow was 14.8 percent higher than its 2011 low reached on Oct. 3, and the S&P was 17 percent up from its lowest level in the year. However, compared to this year's high, the Dow was still 4.5 percent lower and the S&P 5.8 percent lower.
In other markets, gold prices rose moderately and bond prices edged higher, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield dipping to 2.38 percent. The dollar rose against a basket of major currencies, with the dollar index up 0.25 percent. The crude prices dropped on profit taking after the big rally Thursday.
