After a wobble, U.S. stocks manage slight gains

NEW YORK - Major stock indexes shook off an early stumble to finish with slight gains Friday as traders turned their attention to a key meeting of the Federal Reserve next week.

It was a quiet end to another turbulent week. Thanks largely to a big jump Tuesday, the market finished with a 2 percent gain for the week, recouping a portion of the steep losses from the week before.

The major indexes headed lower at the opening of trading Friday, as falling oil prices pulled oil and gas companies down.

The economic news wasn't encouraging, either. A reading on consumer confidence this month sank to its lowest level since September of last year.

The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 8.76 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 1,961.05. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 102.69 points, or 0.6 percent, to 16,433.09, while the Nasdaq composite rose 26.09, or 0.5 percent, to 4,822.34.

In the commodity markets, precious and industrial metals finished mostly lower. Gold dropped $6 to settle at $1,103.30 an ounce, and silver sank 14 cents to $14.50 an ounce. Copper settled unchanged from the day before at $2.45 a pound.

Goldman Sachs cut its forecast for oil prices next year to $45 a barrel from $57, saying supplies were far higher than previous estimates.

U.S. crude fell $1.29 to close at $44.63 a barrel in New York. Brent Crude, a benchmark for international oil, fell 75 cents to close at $48.14 in London.