U.S. stocks closed flat Friday, as investors took in earnings from Wells Fargo and new economic data. In U.S. economic news, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that export prices fell 0.1 percent in December. The Census Bureau said that the U.S. trade deficit widened much more sharply than expected - 16 percent - because of a rise in consumer goods brought in from overseas. In international economic news, the Japanese government unveiled a $117 billion fiscal stimulus package. In corporate news, Wells Fargo posted a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street expectations and sales that were roughly in line with forecasts. The results showed signs the mortgage refinance boom may be coming to an end as interest rates begin to rise. The dollar gained against the pound and the yen, but fell versus the euro. Light sweet crude oil for February delivery dropped 26 cents to $93.56 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures lost $17.40 to $1,660.60. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.21, or 0.13 percent, to 13,488.43. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 0.07, or 0.00 percent, to 1,472.05. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index added 3.88, or 0.12 percent, to 3,125.64.
