Stocks were little changed Friday as investors waited for a resolution of key Greek debt talks, but the three major indexes still managed to rise about 2 percent for the week due to positive economic data and strong corporate results. The Dow industrials closed the week up 2.4 percent, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 2 percent, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 2.8 percent. Despite overall optimism over macroeconomic trends, investors continue to fear the impact from the European debt crisis, particularly the chance that Greece may default in a disorderly manner. Talks continued Friday on a deal to restructuring Greek debt. In U.S. economic news, sales of existing homes rose 5 percent in December, pointing to the possibility of a sustained recovery in the troubled housing market. The U.S. dollar rose versus the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for February delivery fell $1.97 to $98.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $9.50 to $1,664 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 96.5, or 0.8 percent, to 12,720.48. Gains were led by technology firms, particularly those that reported strong quarterly results. Microsoft gained 5.7 percent, IBM rose 4.4 percent, Hewlett-Packard advanced 3.6 percent, and Intel was up 2.9 percent. Shares of General Electric (GE) were flat after the conglomerate reported better-than-expected profit but revenue that missed expectations. The S&P 500 index was little changed, rising 0.88 to 1,315.38. The Nasdaq composite index was virtually unchanged, falling 1.63 to 2,786.70. Google stock plunged 8.4 percent one day after its quarterly results badly missed Wall Street forecasts. Shares of Apple fell 1.7 percent a day after the technology giant's market capitalization briefly topped $400 billion.
