By Sue Chang and Anora Mahmudova, MarketWatch

Gap slumps on weak sales, Alcoa drops after downbeat results

U.S. stocks wove between small gains and losses, but the main indexes were on track to score their second weekly gains in a row.

Friday's up-and-down trading follows days of global equity-market rallies, in part fueled by a sharp rebound in commodity prices.

"An overall positive take on the economy from the Fed, combined with the poor jobs report, suggests that while rates may remain low for a while, the downside risk is limited," said Bradford McMillan, chief investment officer, at Commonwealth Financial Network

Still, comments from President Dennis Lockhart of the Atlanta Fed that a rate increase in October or December is a possibility may have discouraged some investors from actively buying, he said.

Myles Clouston, a senior director at Nasdaq, said investors are also selling to reposition ahead of peak earnings season which is expected to pick up next week, he added.

The S&P 500 slid 4 points, or 0.2%, to 2,009, but was still on track to post one of its best weekly performance this year. Industrial stocks led the gains, while six of its 10 main sectors were trading lower, paced by energy and financial stocks. Sentiment has been closely tracking oil prices.

Read: Oil prices, stock market find themselves in strange relationship (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-stock-market-find-themselves-in-strange-relationship-2015-09-23)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged lower, shedding 12 points, or less than 0.1%, to 17,043. Blue chips are on pace to record their best weekly gains since February. The Nasdaq Composite rose 7 points, or 0.2%, to 4,818.

Frank Cappelleri, executive director of institutional equities at Instinet LLC, said he is encouraged by the recent market action.

"The market's strength has been pretty telling this week given how far the S&P 500 has already come. Including today, the S&P 500 has advanced nearly 8% over a nine day period," he said. "This compares to the 8.2% gain we witnessed from late August to mid-September. But that rally took 16 days to unfold," Cappelleri said.

So far, earnings have been lackluster, with Alcoa Inc. (AA) posting disappointing results after the close of trading on Thursday.

The aluminum producer said it now expects 2015 automotive production growth in China to be in the range of 1% to 2% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alcoa-slashes-it-outlook-for-chinas-production-of-cars-heavy-duty-trucks-2015-10-08), down from a previous outlook of 5% to 8% growth. Shares were off 4.8%.

This week's stock-market advances came after Fed minutes showed officials were reluctant to raise interest rates due to global risk concerns. Mike O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading, criticized the post-minutes gains, saying they were "another example of today's broken markets."

"Who is gleaning market-moving insights into three-week-old minutes while the data has shifted over the subsequent time?" said O'Rourke in a note. "The equity market is once again in the position where the price action is the lone bullish catalyst." And that, he says is the most fleeting of all potential drivers of asset prices.

U.S. import and export prices dipped in September (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-import-prices-dip-slightly-in-september-2015-10-09), underlying continued weakness in demand. The prices the U.S. paid for imported goods fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in September, much smaller than the 1.6% plunge in the prior month, the government said Friday. The price of U.S.-made goods exported to other nations declined by 0.7% last month.

Stocks to watch: Outside of post-earnings reaction from Alcoa, shares of Gap Inc. (GPS) sank more than 5% after the fashion retailer reported late Thursday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gap-reports-downbeat-outlook-sept-sales-drop-2015-10-08) that total sales fell 1% in September, hit by a stronger dollar and weakness for its Banana Republic unit.

Tesla Motors Inc.(TSLA) dropped 2.4% after Barclays downgraded shares of the company.

Shares of International Paper Co. (IP) climbed 4.3% after it announced late Thursday is plans to sell its 55% stake in a joint Venue in China.

Read: Elon Musk: Here's why we call Apple the 'Tesla graveyard' (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-heres-why-we-call-apple-the-tesla-graveyard-2015-10-09)

Other markets:Asian shares rallied (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-rise-after-fed-minutes-cast-doubt-on-rate-hike-2015-10-09) in the wake of the Fed minutes and hopes for lower U.S. rates for longer. The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 1.3%, while the Nikkei 225 index gained 1.6%.

European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-climb-for-sixth-day-after-dovish-fed-minutes-2015-10-09) were also enjoying gains, driven by commodity-related stocks.

A weaker dollar (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-steadies-in-wake-of-dovish-tone-out-of-fed-minutes-2015-10-09) sparked some buying in crude oil (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-atop-50-as-dollar-falls-market-eyes-possible-producer-collaboration-2015-10-09) but U.S. futures prices dipped 0.2% to $49.33 a barrel. Gold prices climbed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/metals-rally-after-as-us-rate-hike-expectations-fade-2015-10-09) $11.70 to $1,156.00 an ounce.

--Barbara Kollmeyer contributed to this article.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 09, 2015 14:35 ET (18:35 GMT)