Price movements were small as investors weighed the significance of the week's news.
The broad S&P 500 index closed unchanged, the Dow Jones industrial index fell 0.4 percent, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 0.4 percent.
The conviction is growing that President Donald Trump is bluffing about imposing import tariffs more as a negotiating tactic than actually following through on all threats.
This belief began to take root on Thursday, leading to good gains in stock prices.
"Not rushing"
The market does not seem particularly affected by Friday's figures showing a 0.9 percent decline in retail sales in the US in January, which was significantly more than the expected decline of 0.2 percent.
This week, a producer price index and consumer price index were also released, suggesting a milder price development in the country than feared.
It looks like the economy and inflation are not rushing ahead, says investment chief Matt Stucky at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, to CNBC.
He is thus trying to breathe new life into hopes of lowering the US interest rate.
Airbnb winner
Housing rental site Airbnb submitted a report for the fourth quarter and exceeded expectations with regard to profit and revenue.
The stock rose 14.5 percent – the best day so far after the IPO in December 2020. This year, the stock has climbed 23 percent.
Yields on American government bonds, regardless of maturity, continued to fall sharply on Friday – a sign of increased interest in stock trading.
During the week as a whole, the S&P 500 rose 1.5 percent, the Dow Jones industrial index gained 0.5 percent, and the Nasdaq composite index climbed 2.6 percent.
