NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks were holding onto minor gains through the afternoon session, the first day in the green after four session of losses. 

The S&P 500 was up 0.2% on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.14%, and the Nasdaq climbed 0.41%. For the week, all indexes were down at least 2%. 

Markets on Friday have been holding steady ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's monetary policy speech.

"Market momentum remains extremely lethargic ahead of the weekend as need-only business continues to drive the price action and investors remain cautious about setting longer-term strategic positions," said TD Securities U.S. strategist Gennadiy Goldberg.

Yellen will deliver a speech on monetary policy at a San Francisco Fed conference at 3:45 p.m. EDT on Friday. The speech comes a week after Yellen reiterated her commitment to data dependence, and Wall Street will be keen to assess her perspective on the latest raft of soft economic data, including an unexpected drop in durable goods in February.

"Yellen's remarks today could help guide markets, potentially encouraging a bout of strategic position setting, but few investors want to be the first through the door as near-term momentum remains highly uncertain," Goldberg added. 

Crude oil prices closed lower on Friday after rebounding 7% over the past five days. Commodity prices have been rallying after Saudi Arabia attacked Yemeni militias, potentially disrupting oil production and transportation in the region.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 4.2% to $49.27 a barrel on Friday after Goldman Sachs warned that conflict in Yemen and a potential nuclear deal with Iran were unlikely to have a near-term impact on supply.

"We expect both events to have negligible near-term supply impacts, with the build in crude inventories set to continue in 2Q15," analysts said in a note. "Longer term, a deal with Iran could lead to greater OPEC supplies although the timing of the sanction relief remains uncertain."

The third and final GDP reading for the fourth quarter remained at 2.2%, consistent with initial readings, though below an expected increase to 2.4%. The Commerce Department released the data on Friday.

The final reading of consumer sentiment in March rested at 93, according to the University of Michigan's survey, above an initial reading of 91.2. However, the measure still sits at a four-month low, down from February's 95.4 reading.

Leading the Nasdaq higher, Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) - Get Report, Regeneron (REGN) - Get Report, Vertex (VRTX) - Get Report, BioMarin (BMRN) - Get Report and Biogen (BIIB) - Get Report each climbed, while the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Index (IBB) - Get Report added 2.3%.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) - Get Report dropped more than 2% after Bank of America analysts cut fiscal 2015 and 2016 estimates for the computer and printer company. The firm said foreign exchange headwinds and weak PC demand were hurting full-year sales.

BlackBerry (BBRY) surged 2% after swinging to a surprise profit in its fourth quarter. The smartphone maker reported adjusted earnings of 4 cents a share, far better than an expected loss of 4 cents. Revenue continued to slide, though, with sales of $660 million down more than 30% from a year earlier.

Yahoo! (YHOO) spiked 1.7% after adding $2 billion to its buyback program. Total funds under its buyback authorization top out at $2.73 billion.

GameStop (GME) - Get Report slid 1% after reporting weaker first-quarter guidance. The computer game retailer expects earnings between 53 cents and 60 cents a share, below analysts' estimates of 66 cents. 

Dow Chemical (DOW) - Get Report jumped 3.2% on news it will separate a portion of its chlorine business and merge it with Olin (OLN) - Get Report. The $5 billion deal would give Dow shareholders majority control of Olin at a stake of 50.5%.