Stocks end strong week on flat note

NEW YORK – Stocks ended a strong week on a flat note as lower oil prices and utility stocks offset encouraging economic news.

Still, the market ended Friday with a second straight weekly gain.

The Commerce Department said U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 1 percent in the fourth quarter, an improvement from an earlier estimate of 0.7 percent. That surprising good news pushed prices of bonds and dividend-paying stocks like utilities down, however.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 57 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 16,639. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 3 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,948. The Nasdaq composite rose 8 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,590.

All three indexes closed about 1.5 percent higher for the week.