Mixed Finish for Wall Street

Updated from 4:16 p.m. EST

Stocks closed out a big week -- and a brutal month -- with a mixed session Friday, as blue chips climbed on rate-cut hopes but tech stocks lagged behind.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 59.99 points, or 0.45%, to 13,371.72, paring gains after jumping as many as 154 points earlier. The S&P 500 added 11.42 points, or 0.78%, to 1481.14, fueled by a surge in financial stocks.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 7.17 points, or 0.27%, to 2660.96, as the tech-heavy index was pulled down by a weak outlook from Dell(DELL Quote).

"We faded off a little at the end, which is understandable," said Larry Wachtel, senior market analyst with Wachovia Securities. "People probably took some profits headed into the weekend. It was still a respectable, but asking the market to further dazzle us when it already has already was a bit too much."

The market notched its best weekly performance in roughly eight months, but the major averages still closed out November with heavy losses. The Dow was lower by 4% for the month, the S&P 500 ended down 4.4%, and the Nasdaq lost 6.9%.

"It might take a little time for people to put November behind them and regain confidence," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment officer with Oaktree Asset Management. "There's still concern the fourth quarter will have weak gross domestic product and earnings growth going forward. There's a bit of change in sentiment, but it's not a tidal wave by any means."

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