Financial markets take a pause at end of wild week

U.S. markets are stabilizing at the end of a wild week.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose two points, or 0.01 percent, to 16,661 as of noon Eastern time Friday.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 fell seven points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,921. The Nasdaq fell 47 points, or 1.1 percent, to 4,331.

Semiconductor stocks were sharply lower after Microchip Technology cut its sales forecast for the quarter and warned investors to expect bad news from others in the sector. The stock sank 12 percent.

The stock market has been swinging sharply this week. The Dow had its biggest decline of the year on Thursday, one day after its biggest gain of the year.

Bond prices were flat. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note held steady at 2.31 percent.

This story was originally published October 10, 2014 at 11:15 AM with the headline "Financial markets take a pause at end of wild week."