Stocks little changed after strong week as government issues mixed trade report

Stocks steady in early going after trade report

NEW YORK — Stocks held on to the week’s big gains Friday after the government issued a mixed trade report.

The Commerce Department said the trade deficit declined 3.5 percent to $30.7 billion in August, as imports fell on lower oil demand. Economists expected the deficit to rise to $33 billion, or 3.3 percent from July’s level, which was the highest in six months.

Exports of goods and services edged up 0.2 percent, an encouraging sign that the global economy is strengthening. But the decline in imports shows that domestic consumption is still weak.

Investors were also keeping a close watch on the dollar Friday, which recovered some of its recent losses after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reassured markets that the U.S. central bank will be able to wind down in its extraordinary stimulus measures when the time is right. His comments Thursday night calmed some of investors’ fears about inflation, which can be triggered by a falling dollar. The rebound in the greenback weighed on oil, gold and other commodities.

The market’s seven-month rally was put firmly back on track this week after two down weeks. Going into Friday, the Dow is up 300 points, or 3.2 percent, for the week. S&P 500 index is up 3.9 percent.

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.90, or 0.1 percent, to 9,796.77. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 0.64, or 0.1 percent, to 1,066.12, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 3.76, or 0.2 percent, to 2,127.69.