Stocks waver in early trading; oil flat

U.S. stock indexes were headed for an uneven finish in late-afternoon trading Friday, as losses among real estate and utilities companies outweighed gains among oil companies. A new round of tensions between the U.S. and North Korea helped send bond yields lower, which weighed on bank shares.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1 point, or 0.1 percent, to 2,502 as of 3:45 p.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 11 points, or 0.1 percent, to 22,347. The Nasdaq composite added 2 points to 6,425. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks gained 6 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,451.

THE QUOTE: "Geopolitical tensions coming out of North Korea caused a flight to quality, which kind of put the brakes on the momentum in financials," said David Schiegoleit, managing director of investments at U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management. "Today equity markets are simply moving sideways and probably digesting that."

NORTH KOREA: Geopolitical tensions ratcheted up after President Donald Trump authorized stiffer sanctions in response to North Korea's nuclear weapons advances, drawing a furious response from Pyongyang. Trump expanded the Treasury Department's ability to target anyone conducting significant trade in goods, services or technology with North Korea, and to ban them from interacting with the U.S. financial system. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un retaliated by calling Trump "deranged" and saying he'll "pay dearly" for his threats.

BOND MARKET: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 2.26 percent from 2.28 percent late Thursday. The decline weighed on bank shares, including U.S. Bancorp, which was down 10 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $53.64. Lower bond yields mean banks have to charge lower interest rates on long-term loans like mortgages.

FEELING BETTER: Several health care companies recovered some of the ground they lost earlier as Sen. John McCain said he won't vote for the latest Republican bill to repeal the Obama health care law. His statement likely deals a fatal blow to the last-gasp GOP measure in a Senate showdown expected next week. Centene, which administers Medicaid programs and sells health plans to the Affordable Care Act's exchanges, rose $1.41, or 1.6 percent, to $92.15. Molina Healthcare gained $2.95, or 4.7 percent, to $65.46.

BIG DECLINERS: A slide by real estate investment trusts and utilities weighed on the market. Ventas was down $1.56, or 2.3 percent, to $69.96. Duke Energy fell 80 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $84.36.

HIGH FLYERS: Industrials sectors stocks, including several airlines, were headed higher. Alaska Air Group added $1.82, or 2.5 percent, to $74.73. American Airlines Group gained 81 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $47.10.

ROCKY OUTLOOK: Compass Minerals slumped 13 percent after the mining company cut its annual profit forecast after a partial ceiling cave-in at a rock salt mine in Ontario that will slow operations for six weeks. The stock lost $9.05 to $60.45.

DIAL-A-DEAL: Sprint climbed 5.8 percent after Reuters reported the wireless carrier is close to signing a deal with rival T-Mobile. Shares in Sprint added 46 cents to $8.49. T-Mobile gained 69 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $64.08.

IN GEAR: CarMax rose 7.4 percent after the used car retailer's latest quarterly results beat analysts' forecasts. The stock gained $5.06 to $73.90.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, to settle at $50.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 43 cents, or 0.8 percent, to close at $56.86 a barrel in London. Heating oil was little changed at $1.82 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline gained 3 cents to $1.67 a gallon. Natural gas rose 1 cent to $2.96 per 1,000 cubic feet. The rise in energy futures helped lift shares in oil companies, including Hess, which rose 79 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $44.42.

METALS: Gold rose $2.70 to $1,297.50 an ounce. Silver lost 3 cents to $16.98 an ounce. Copper added 1 cent to $2.95 a pound.

CURRENCIES: The dollar weakened to 112.05 yen from 112.38 yen on Thursday. The euro climbed to $1.1941 from $1.1885.

MARKETS OVERSEAS: Germany's DAX fell 0.1 percent, while France's CAC 40 gained 0.3 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.6 percent. In Asia, markets finished unevenly after S&P downgraded the credit rating for China and Hong Kong. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3 percent, while South Korea's Kospi lost 0.7 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.8 percent.