Markets down for week

Bargain hunters kept Wall Street mixed Friday, allowing blue chips to rise despite a new high for oil prices. But fresh warnings from semiconductor firms sent the tech sector falling, and the three major indexes ended the week substantially lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 8.34, or 0.1 percent, to 10,047.24. Broader stock indicators were narrowly mixed.

For the week, the Dow fell 2.3 percent, the S&P was down 1.6 percent and the Nasdaq dropped 1.6 percent. Overall, it was the worst week for the markets since the first week of August.

The technology sector was hit by another pair of profit warnings. Netherlands manufacturer Philips Electronics NV and consumer electronics maker Cirrus Logic Inc. lowered their third-quarter outlooks.

Economy

Factory orders decline for big-ticket items

Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket goods dropped in August, largely weighed down by a sharp decline in demand for commercial airplanes.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that orders for durable goods — costly manufactured products expected to last at least three years — declined by 0.5 percent, following a 1.8 percent advance in July.

The manufacturing picture, however, looked better when volatile transportation equipment, such as airplanes, was excluded: Orders rose by a solid 2.3 percent in August. That compared with a flat reading for July and marked the biggest increase since March.

Above, workers assemble a Boeing 767 passenger jet at the company’s Everett, Wash., production plant in this July 2003 photo.

Airlines

Investors fear imminent Delta bankruptcy filing

Delta Air Lines Inc.’s stock tumbled more than 8 percent to a new 52-week low Friday of $3.26 on persistent worries that the nation’s third-largest carrier is headed toward bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, the airline’s customer service chief said she was leaving, the latest in a string of executive departures at the financially troubled company.

The previous 52-week low for Delta’s stock was on Aug. 13, when it closed at $3.41. The stock has fallen more than 90 percent since 9-11. The day before the attacks, the stock closed at $37.25.

Delta, which has warned of the possibility of bankruptcy, also has seen its former chief executive, chief operating officer and chief financial officer leave during the past year.

Markets

Morningstar subject of SEC investigation

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the investment research firm Morningstar Inc. for failing to properly correct inaccurate data it published about a mutual fund, the company disclosed Friday.

Morningstar, which rates the performance of mutual funds, received a “Wells Notice” in May saying the SEC might bring a civil action against the company for violations of U.S. securities laws, spokeswoman Margaret Kirch Cohen said.