U.S. Stocks Dip With Oil Prices, But Finish the Week Higher 

NEW YORK (AP) —

U.S. stocks took small losses in quiet trading Friday as energy companies sank with the price of oil, but the market finished higher for the week.

The price of oil fell 3 percent and made energy companies the worst performing sector of the market. Utility companies rose as bond yields decreased, and metals and mining companies rose as gold and silver prices edged higher.

For the week, the market was propelled higher by quarterly financial results from big banks that were less ugly than investors were bracing for. The market quieted, though, toward the end of the week.

The& Dow& Jones industrial average fell 28.97 points Friday, or 0.2 percent, to 17,897.46. The& Dow& rose 1.8 percent for the week. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 2.05 points Friday, or 0.1 percent, to 2,080.73 but finished the week up 1.6 percent. The Nasdaq composite index dipped 7.67 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,938.22. For the week it was up 1.8 percent.

U.S. crude fell $1.14 to $40.36 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international benchmark, lost 74 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $43.10 a barrel in London. The prices of wholesale gasoline, heating oil and natural gas also slumped.

Occidental Petroleum lost $2.17, or 2.9 percent, to $72.15. EOG Resources fell $2.10, or 2.7 percent, to $75.71.

Utility companies, the best performing group of stocks on the market this year, made the largest gains on Friday. Investors are being drawn to their relatively high dividend payouts because rising bond prices are lowering the yields investors can earn from bonds. Edison International rose $1.02, or 1.5 percent, to $71.06 and NextEra Energy rose $1.28, or 1.1 percent, to $117.43.

Bond prices rose and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note declined to 1.75 percent from 1.79 percent.

Citigroup said Friday its first quarter profit shrank 27 percent on weak results from its consumer bank and trading businesses, but the bank’s net income and revenue were greater than expected. The stock fell 6 cents to $44.92, but still finished the week 11 percent higher. Bank holding company Regions Financial also reported a bigger profit and greater revenue than expected. Its stock added 26 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $8.74.

The price of gold and silver both edged upward, which gave metals and mining companies a boost. Gold gained $8.10 to $1,234.60 an ounce, while silver rose 14 cents to $16.31 an ounce. Copper lost 2 cents to $2.15 a pound. Newmont Mining added 69 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $29.37 and Freeport-McMoRan picked up 13 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $10.86.

In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline slipped 4 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $1.46 a gallon and heating oil decreased 2 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $1.23 a gallon. Natural gas fell 7 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $1.90 per 1,000 cubic feet.

China reported that its economy grew 6.7 percent in the first quarter of 2016. While that is the slowest pace in years, it matched analyst projections.

Germany’s DAX fell 0.4 percent and the CAC-40 in France was 0.4 percent lower. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares declined 0.3 percent. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index in Japan shed 0.4 percent, while South Korean Kospi dipped 0.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.1 percent.

The euro rose to $1.1288 from $1.1267 and the dollar fell to 108.70 yen from 109.28 yen.

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