It was a mixed close for the markets with the Dow losing 37 points to 11,406 over concerns that the Federal Reserve's plan to purchase Treasury bonds may trigger a currency war. Nasdaq added a point to 2580.
On the upside
Rising gold and silver prices lifted shares of Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL).
Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE: LPX) widened third quarter losses but the results were better than analysts expected.
Ashland (NYSE: ASH) will sell its Ashland Distribution division to TPG Capital for $930 million.
On the downside
TheStreet downgraded Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: VRX) on Friday to a Hold rating citing the company's third quarter loss as revenue dropped.
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) regained control of the Symbian platform, which has been abandoned by most handset makers.
Bernstein Research analyst Pierre Ferragu downgraded Alcatel Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to an Underperform rating and lowered his price target on the company saying that the company is losing market share.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by nearly 10 to 9 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks edged up a fraction to 736.