By Christopher Whittall and Michael Wursthorn 

Shares of energy and utility companies rose Friday to help offset losses among chip makers and retailers, leaving the S&P 500 little changed as it heads toward its first weekly loss of the month.

The broad index fell 0.2% in recent trading as rising shares of utility companies and energy firms competed with deep declines among chip maker Nvidia and retailer Nordstrom after both reported disappointing earnings.

The mixed trading session underscores investors' uncertainty as to where stocks go from here after a painful five-day stretch of losses in recent days sapped 4% from the S&P 500. Shares of technology companies and other growth stocks have been hit especially hard, leaving investors without a clear market leader and pushing the Nasdaq Composite deeper into correction territory.

Several investors have been paring their exposure to shares of technology companies to spread cash across companies that tend to be more durable in an economic slowdown -- and that continued Friday with the S&P 500's energy, consumer staples, health-care and utility sectors all posting gains while the market's growth corners, like tech and consumer discretionary, fell.

"We're tilted toward a negative near-term outcome and expect a slowdown, " said Barry Bannister, head of institutional equity strategy at Stifel Nicolaus, which has increased its exposure to sectors such as utilities, consumer staples and health care. "We expect the S&P 500 stay rangebound through the end of the year until proven otherwise."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 21 points, or 0.1%, to 25309, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 0.6%. All three major indexes are on track to post weekly losses.

Higher oil prices contributed to the gains among energy firms, while utilities rallied after a top California official said a bankruptcy of PG&E, owner of Pacific Gas & Electric, over wildfire-related liabilities wouldn't be good for California citizens.

PG&E added 38% in recent trading, pulling up shares of most other utility companies, including Edison International.

Still, the S&P 500 was weighed down by deep declines among the semiconductor industry and retailers.

Chip maker Nvidia fell 19% after it reported quarterly sales below analyst expectations and provided downbeat forecasts for the current quarter, making it the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500. Applied Materials, another semiconductor company, fell nearly 7% after it issued disappointing guidance.

Losses among retail stocks added pressure. Nordstrom shares tumbled 7.1% after the retailer said a multimillion-dollar charge related to delinquent credit-card debt ate into its profit. Other retailers also sank, with shares of Macy's and Kohl's sliding.

In Europe, the region's major index, the Stoxx Europe 600, fell 0.2%, as Brexit continued to loom over markets in the region.

Brexit will remain very important for U.K. assets, said Salman Ahmed, chief investment strategist at Lombard Odier Investment Managers. Markets will likely put pressure on U.K. politicians as they seek to come to an agreement on leaving the EU, he added.

In Asia, China's Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.4% higher, while South Korea's Kospi index advanced 0.2%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.6%.

Write to Christopher Whittall at christopher.whittall@wsj.com and Michael Wursthorn at Michael.Wursthorn@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 16, 2018 12:30 ET (17:30 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.