U.S. blue-chip stocks fell on Friday as a storm threatening the Gulf of Mexico sent crude oil prices higher, pressuring industrial stocks such as Boeing Co. and United Technologies Corp, Reuters reported. The rise in crude limited a broader advance in an otherwise listless pre-weekend session, with tepid volume. Technology shares, however, eked out a slight gain, helped by a bounce in Apple Computer Inc. shares, a day after the company forecast no financial fallout from a recall of notebook PC batteries. Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 20.41 points, or 0.18 percent, to end unofficially at 11,284.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped just 0.97 of a point, or 0.07 percent, to unofficially close at 1,295.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 3.18 points, or 0.15 percent, to unofficially finish at 2,140.29. For the week, the Dow ended down 0.86 percent, Nasdaq fell 1.09 percent and the S&P 500 dropped 0.55 percent.
