A rally across technology companies following strong earnings from Google led the Standard & Poor's 500 index higher Friday. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell on declines in its financial components as worries over the foreclosure crisis weighed. Nevertheless, U.S. stocks managed to close in positive weekly territory for the second straight week.

The Dow closed down 31.79 points, or 0.29%, to 11062.78. For the week, the measure edged up 0.51%, its sixth week in positive territory out of the last seven. General Electric was the measure's worst performer Friday, tumbling 5% as the conglomerate's revenue came in short of Wall Street's expectations. Financial stocks were also weak as concerns over the foreclosure crisis persisted.

Bank of America fell 4.9% after S&P Equity Research cut its investment rating on the bank's shares to hold from strong buy, saying it may be less prepared than peers for future mortgage repurchase demands. J.P. Morgan Chase dropped 4.1%. Bank of America and J.P. Morgan were also the Dow's worst components for the week with declines of 9.1% and 5.5% over the period.

The Dow's technology components, meanwhile, were its best performers Friday and for the week. During Friday's session, Hewlett-Packard gained 1.6%, Cisco Systems added 1.3% and Microsoft advanced 1.2%. Over the week, H-P climbed 4.1%, Cisco added 3.9% and Microsoft jumped 4%.

The technology sector's strength came as Google, which isn't a Dow component, posted a 32% rise in the Internet search giant's third quarter profit that topped analysts' expectations. Google's shares jumped 11%, boosting the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite.

The Nasdaq rose 33.39, or 1.37%, to 2468.77, Friday, and climbed 2.8% for the week. The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 2.38, or 0.20%, to 1176.19 Friday. For the week, it rose 0.95%.

European market

European shares ended mostly higher Friday but trimmed gains scored in the wake of a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, while retailers remained in focus after trading updates from Carrefour and Hennes & Mauritz.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.1%, or 0.15 point, to close at 265.83. The index ticked higher as investors responded to a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in which he said he sees a case for further cautious easing.

But gains faded as investors noted Bernanke's comments about the difficulties in determining the details of how to proceed with additional purchases.

Among other European indexes, the U.K. FTSE 100 index fell 0.4% to close at 5,703.37, the French CAC 40 index rose 0.2% to end at 3,827.37 and the German DAX 30 index ended 0.6% higher at 6,492.30.

French retail giant Carrefour was one of the biggest movers, dropping 4% in Paris after the company said late Thursday that it would take further charges on its Brazilian operations. Shares in Hennes & Mauritz rose 0.2% after it said same-store sales rose 8% in September, beating the 5.6% consensus forecast.

Asian market

Most Asian markets ended lower Friday as materials plays retraced some recent gains, but Chinese shares extended their winning run amid expectations of strong earnings and hopes of further yuan appreciation.

Some investors took cash off the table after Thursday's rally and ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke's speech at a conference in Boston later in the global day.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.9% to 9500.25, while South Korea's Kospi tacked on 0.1%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed 0.4%, while China's Shanghai Composite jumped 3.2%.

Many material stocks, having surged recently on the back of commodity prices, declined after crude oil and gold prices dropped overnight and as buyers took to the sidelines after Wall Street's decline. Inpex Corp. fell 0.4% in Tokyo and Cnooc dropped 1.9% in Hong Kong.

Base metals

Base metals closed mixed on the London Metal Exchange Friday as the dollar firmed, but analysts remain confident the slight dip for some metals is merely a pause in the complex's uptrend.

The greenback which has been largely directing moves across the metals in recent weeks proved resilient despite suffering some losses as a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke kept the door open for a fresh round of quantitative easing.

The U.S. currency managed to retrace its fall, with analysts saying another round of economic stimulus had been largely priced in. A firmer dollar often softens metal prices as it makes the commodities more expensive for other currency holders.

Copper, however, still finished up 1.1% on the week. Zinc was up 5.8% and lead up 6.7%. Crude futures tumbled Friday, nearing $81 a barrel on a rebound in the dollar and dropping equities. Light, sweet crude for November delivery settled $1.44, or 1.7%, lower at $81.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after dropping as low as $80.75 a barrel.

Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $1.65 lower at $82.55 a barrel. Oil prices had little direction Friday morning amid volatile moves in the dollar and equities markets, but crude slid through the session as the greenback bounced back from fresh eight month lows.

A speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke kept open the possibility of further stimulus, but investors worried equities and energy markets, as well as the greenback, had already accounted for the potential central bank actions.

Gold futures retreated as stronger than expected retail sales and comments from the Federal Reserve raised questions about the amount of U.S. fiscal stimulus the market expects from the central bank. The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, fell $5.60, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,372 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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