Investing.com - The S&P 500 notched its best quarter in nearly five years, despite closing flat on Friday as Facebook slumped following a security breach.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 0.07%, The S&P 500 was flat, while the Nasdaq Composite rose about 0.05%. For the quarter, the S&P 500 rose 7.2%, the best gain since the fourth quarter of 2013.
Just months after Facebook vowed to beef up its security practices, cyber criminals infiltrated the social media giant's platform and gained control of millions of user accounts, prompting investors to abandon the company's shares.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) fell 2.6%, dragging the broader market into negative territory.
Financials also kept a lid on gains, as investors remained wary of initiating bullish bets on bank stocks, even as the Federal Reserve raised rates earlier this week and hinted at further rate hikes, with next one expected at year-end.
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) closed lower.
On the corporate earnings front, BlackBerry (NYSE:BB) rose 12% after its fiscal second-quarter earnings and revenue topped analysts' expectations.
Lingering investor concerns about trade also weighed on sentiment as U.S.-Canada talks showed little sign of progress ahead a Sept. 30 deadline.
Both sides have dug in their heels in negotiations as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears intent on ensuring a good deal for Canada, while President Donald Trump has hinted that his administration could proceed with a NAFTA revamp without Canada.
Energy was of little help to the broader market, ending the day lower despite a rise in oil prices on expectations global oil supplies could be pressured by a loss of Iranian crude exports as U.S. sanctions loom.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for November delivery gained 1.6% to settle at $73.25 a barrel.
Investors also had to contend with a flurry of economic data Friday, showing the Fed's preferred measure of inflation remained close to target at 2%, while consumer spending rose 0.3%, below economists' forecast.
Semiconductors had mixed day on Wall Street as Intel's gain proved AMD's loss after Chief Financial Officer Bob Swan allayed investor concerns over supply constraints, insisting the company had enough supply to meet its full-year revenue forecast.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) closed 3% higher, while Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) slumped 5%.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), meanwhile, capped the week off on a sour note, plunging 14%, after the Securities and Exchange Commission sued CEO Elon Musk for fraud.
Still, Wall Street remained divided as some claimed Musk would find a way to be involved with the company even if he were forced out, while others warned Tesla's shares could lose up to $130 a share if Musk were ousted.
Loup Ventures' Gene Munster emphatically proclaimed that "this is not the end of Tesla," citing a 50/50 chance Musk remains CEO and even greater odds he remains involved "somehow" with the company.