US stocks prove resilience amid government shutdown

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip stocks fell 1.22 percent over five trading sessions to finish at 15,072.58 points Friday, its second week in a row in the red.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.69 percent to 3,807.75.

The S&P 500, a broad measure of the markets, ended down a scant 0.07 percent at 1,690.50.

"Another day has passed and the government shutdown continues," said Joe Bell, senior equity analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

"We ended the week on a bit of a positive note, as most major sectors finished in the green after a few days of negative price action."

US stocks rebounded with solid day-over-day gains Friday as the partial government shutdown dragged into a fourth day, with little prospect of a compromise between Democrats and Republicans.

The Dow added 0.51 percent, the Nasdaq 0.89 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 0.71 percent.

"Equities climbed throughout the session while showing little concern over the lack of progress in the Capitol Hill stalemate," Briefing. com analysts said in a market note.

With President Barack Obama and Republicans at loggerheads over passing a spending measure to get the government fully operating again, concerns were rising the fight would roll into a face-off over raising the nation's debt ceiling by the October 17 deadline.

But apparently not enough to convince investors that a deal on both issues was out of reach.

"Based on the price action in the financial markets today, investors are not worried that the US will default on its debt. Stocks rallied, bond yields moved higher and the dollar strengthened against the euro, British pound and Japanese yen," said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.

Wall Street had an "interesting week" of up-and-down trade, said Art Hogan of Lazard Capital Markets.

Hogan said there was little conviction from investors. "They don't want to miss the relief rally that we will most assuredly get" if the budget dispute is resolved.

"If we are still talking about this next Friday, the market is going to be lower," he added.

In corporate news, Apple was in focus after activist investor Carl Icahn said Tuesday he wants Apple to launch an additional share buyback of $150 billion to help boost the company's struggling stock value.

Apple, the biggest component on the Nasdaq, shot up 2.4 percent Wednesday but ended Friday down 0.1 percent for the week.

Tesla shares roller-coasted this week after a video of a fire in a Tesla luxury sedan left analysts debating whether the electric car maker's promise justified its huge share price gains.

Tesla shares had run up 470 percent from January to a record $194.50 on Monday, before a video of the burning car came out Tuesday and sent them tumbling to around $173.

A rebound Friday pushed them back up to $180.80, still 433 percent higher since the year began.

In IPO news, the Empire State Realty Trust, which owns the landmark Empire State Building in Manhattan, finished the week at $13.15, compared to the issue price of $13 a share.

Sandwich shop chain Potbelly raised $105 million in its IPO Friday. Shares soared to $30.77, more than double the IPO share price of $14.

Markets were left largely without official economic information after the partial government shutdown that began Tuesday.

Most critically missed of the major economic reports was Friday's data on job growth and unemployment.

Looking ahead to next week, three reports that are scheduled -- international trade, retail sales and the producer price index -- will likely be delayed.

The Federal Reserve publishes the minutes of its last policy meeting on Wednesday.