US stocks : Dow up 0.03 pct

The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 4.07 points, or 0.03 percent, to 12,815.39 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 2.34 points, or 0.17 percent, to 1,379.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 9.29 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 2,904.87.

For the week, the Dow fell 2.1 percent and the Nasdaq lost 2.6 percent.

Tech stocks managed solid gains in Friday's session. An S&P information technology sector index rose 0.6 percent.

Shares of Apple Inc rebounded from their slide into bear market territory earlier this week with a 1.7 percent gain on Friday to close at $547.06.

But the stock of J.C. Penney slid 4.8 percent to $20.64 and ranked as the S&P 500's biggest decliner after the retailer reported a sharper-than-expected decline in quarterly sales at stores open at least a year.

The market's early gains on Friday came after stronger-than-expected figures on U.S. consumer sentiment.

But investors' enthusiasm cooled after hearing from the House speaker and the president about the fiscal cliff.

Boehner, a Republican, reiterated his opposition to any tax hikes on the wealthy late this morning. Obama responded in the early afternoon by saying there was no way around tax increases, but that he would remain open to any new ideas that congressional leaders might have.

The fiscal cliff is a combination of government spending cuts and tax increases set to go into effect early next year unless Congress acts to change the law before then. It could take an estimated $600 billion out of

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