Stocks end flat amid deficit worries

Stocks finished about where they started Friday as investors balanced positive signs for the U.S. economy with a looming deadline for a deficit-cutting committee in Congress. Steep declines earlier in the week left the market with its worst weekly loss since September.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 25.43 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 11,796.16. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 0.48 points, or 0.04 percent, to finish at 1,215.65. The Nasdaq fell 15.49, or 0.60 percent, to close at 2,572.50.

Investors were wary as a congressional "supercommittee" remained deadlocked on ways to cut the U.S. budget deficit.

The bipartisan panel must agree on making at least $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts by Thanksgiving. If the committee fails and Congress takes no other action, automatic spending cuts will take effect beginning in 2013. Economists worry that a stalemate will erode business confidence and slow the recovery.

The Dow is down 2.9 percent for the week. Broader indexes fell even more. The S&P lost 3.8 percent, the Nasdaq 4 percent. The market fell sharply midweek on worries that Europe's debt crisis could spread and hurt U.S. banks. -- AP