Closing Bell

Stocks ended flat on Friday as investors shrugged off encouraging economic signs and a tax-cut package expected to lift economic growth. Trading ended shortly before President Barack Obama signed a tax bill into law. The $850 billion package extends Bush-era tax cuts for another two years and expiring unemployment benefits through next year. House Democrats had pledged to block the tax proposal, a compromise worked out between Obama and Senate Republicans. But the House passed the bill late Thursday night. Critics said the cost didn't justify the expected boost to economic growth. In a hopeful sign for the economy, the Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators rose 1.1 percent in November, the fastest pace since March. The index - which tracks data such as orders for new goods and materials - rose 0.4 percent in October. Stocks wavered in a tight range Friday, a day after major indexes hit two-year highs. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 7 points to close at 11,491. The broader S&P 500 eked out another 2010 high. The index rose 1.04to close at 1,243. The Nasdaq composite rose 5 to 2,642. Rising shares barely outpaced falling ones on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was 2 billion shares. Bond yields fell at the end of this year's last full week of trading. The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 3.33, after notching a seven-month high of 3.56 percent on Thursday.