Tech Tops on Mixed Day

(Updated with weekly moves on the major U.S. averages and Dow components' performance, added graph on S&P downgrade of E*Trade Financial and updated closing prices of stocks throughout.)

U.S. stock indices finished a quadruple-witching Friday mixed, with tech stocks outperforming blue-chip names.

After rising more than 60 points earlier in the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished lower by 15.87 points, or 0.19%, at 8539.73. The S&P 500 halved its gains but still rose 2.86 points, or 0.31%, to 921.23. The Nasdaq Composite also pared its early winnings but still ended the day up 19.75 points, or 1.09%, to 1827.47.

Financial stocks were among the best performers on the Dow, with JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote), Bank of America (BAC Quote) and American Express (AXP Quote) adding more than 2% each.

Meanwhile Kraft Foods (KFT Quote) and Verizon(VZ Quote) were among the worst of 16 decliners on the blue chip index.

Friday marked the final options expiration of the second quarter, with investors expecting increased volatility and a bumpy road as quadruple witching loomed. Quadruple witching occurs when contracts for stock index futures, stock index options, stock options and single stock futures all expire. This can lead to dramatic moves in the equity markets due to increased volatility.

The choppy trading was a weak follow-up to the action on the Dow and the S&P 500 from Thursday's session. The volatility has affected the market during the entire week. The Dow swung in a range of more than 100 points the first four trading sessions this week.

The Dow fell 3% over the five sessions, the S&P 500 gave back 2.7%, and the Nasdaq finished 1.5% lower.

Paul Nolte, director of investments with Hinsdale Associates, says that the poor performance this week comes from investors not being content with economic news that hasn't showed a marked improvement.