Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 7-to-4 ratio on the NYSE on Friday, with 55 stocks hitting new 52-week highs and 60 stocks hitting fresh 52-week lows, while volume was a bit lighter than it has been of late.

-The major indices finished mixed in a volatile week, as a three-day rebound on broadening leadership was erased by a sharp AI spending selloff on Thursday and an oil-driven drop on Friday, with investors digesting a heavy earnings slate, crude above $100 a barrel, and a split message from hot business surveys and depressed consumer sentiment

·The Russell 2000 and the Dow finished the week higher in a clear divergence, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 slipped, as money rotated out of the mega-cap growth complex and into small caps, health care, and energy

·The week's economic data split down the middle, as housing stayed in a deep freeze and weekly jobless claims held near historic lows, while Friday's flash business surveys came in hot and consumer sentiment sat near record lows with inflation expectations climbing

·Treasury yields fell across the curve on the week despite $100-plus oil, with the 2-year down 5 basis points to 4.69%, the 10-year down 9 basis points to 5.00%, and the 30-year down 10 basis points to 5.33%, as a flight to safety on Thursday overtook the inflation scare

·Energy led the week as WTI crude settled at $103.59, up 2.15% on the week, and Brent traded to five-month highs above $114 a barrel on attacks in Saudi Arabia, while gold cracked, settling at $4,009.40, down 4.11% on the week after dipping below $4,000 for the first time since the summer

·The dollar marked time, with the US Dollar Index closing at 101.81, little changed on the week as falling yields and safe-haven demand pulled in opposite directions

The week's rebound ran out of road. The major indices finished split, with the Russell 2000 up 2% and the Dow up 0.41%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.47% and the Nasdaq eased 0.71%, as Thursday's AI spending wreck and Friday's oil-driven retreat erased three strong sessions that opened the week. Energy led the sectors, up about 1.6% on the crude rally, followed by healthcare at about 1.5%, real estate at about 1.0%, and utilities, materials, consumer staples, financials, and consumer discretionary all eking out gains of less than 1%. Technology finished essentially flat for the week despite Thursday's rout. Communication services brought up the rear, down about 4.4% as the week's biggest earnings casualty sat squarely in the group, and industrials fell about 1.9% on weakness in the big machinery and aerospace names. The week's winners wore defense and energy colors, with Lockheed Martin (LMT, +9.44%) surging after a record $292 billion backlog and SLB (SLB, +7.19%) jumping on its Friday report. Tesla (TSLA, +4.93%) managed a weekly gain despite its profit slide, and the damage concentrated in the AI complex, where Meta Platforms (META, -9.40%) was sold all week on its spending plans, and Lam Research (LRCX, -12.82%) paced the chip decliners on a supply-constrained outlook.

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