Stocks ended little changed, but sealed in gains for the week; investors were also preoccupied with earnings and largely ignored U.S. economic data, which showed the trade deficit widened nearly 16% in November and import prices declined 0.1% in December. Wells Fargo lost 0.85% after the co. reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that topped analyst expectations, but net interest margin declined to 3.56% compared to 3.89% a year ago and from 3.66% in the third quarter. American Express gained 0.74% after the firm late Thursday outlined plans to eliminate 5,400 jobs. Boeing was down 2.5% as the Federal Aviation Administration announced a review of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner jet following several recent incidents involving the plane. Chevron gained 1.1% after the oil co. said it expects its fourth-quarter profit to rise due to higher production. Tech stocks put in a mixed trading session, after data released by IDC showed global PC sales falling 6.4% in the fourth quarter — worse than the drop the firm had predicted. Dell saw its global market share slip to 10.6% from 12.5% in the same period the previous year. Facebook rose 1.34% after J.P. Morgan named the co. as the “top pick” among large-cap Internet stocks for 2013. Best Buy was down 0.1% in the evening trade, closing the regular session up 16.4%, Best Buy’s holiday comparable sales in the nine weeks ended Jan. 5 fell 1.4%, compared with an average decline of 3% in a Retail Metrics poll. In the coming week U.S. banks will roll out their quarterly results in full force, and investors may be in the mood to push stocks higher if the sector tops beaten-down forecasts. This week’s round of earnings will also include reports from eBay, Intel and General Electric. Ben Bernanke may bring up the debt-ceiling issue on Monday afternoon when he talks about current economic issues at the University of Michigan. Investors will also get a look at retail sales, the consumer-price index, industrial production and the home builders’ index for December, housing starts data, government weekly jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed’s report on manufacturing activity and a reading on January consumer sentiment.
