Stocks seem to be running in place

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks managed modest gains Friday afternoon, with the day's biggest push coming from a somewhat upbeat housing report and strength in auto stocks.

But concerns about oil prices persisted after a report that Iran had seized 15 British marines.

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The Dow Jones industrial average (up 27.16 to 12,488.30, Charts) and the Nasdaq (up 5.36 to 2,457.10, Charts) composite both rose about 0.2 percent with less than an hour left in the session. The broader S&P 500 (up 1.57 to 1,436.11, Charts) index was little changed.

Stocks struggled Thursday after the previous session's rally, which sparked after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and softened its language on rate hikes and - some investors say - opened the door to possible rate cuts later this year.

Stocks remained in transition mode Friday, with investors buying on the housing market news, but remaining cautious about the latest news from Iran.

"I think we're still in the midst of the correction," said Harry Clark, CEO of Clark Capital Management. "The average correction runs for 8 to 12 weeks, and we're still in week four."

"We'll continue to see the economy slowing. We're going to see slower earnings growth, that's for sure. The last six times housing dropped anywhere near this much, it caused a recession within six months."

In economic news, existing home sales rose 3.9 percent versus forecasts for a decline, and the gain was the biggest in nearly 3 years. But the median price of a home fell for the seventh straight month, a sign that the housing market's problems are far from over. (Full story).

Among stock movers, ImClone (up $4.55 to $38.43, Charts) surged 11 percent in unusually active Nasdaq trade on bets that sales of its cancer treatment Erbitux will benefit from a setback for rival Amgen.

Amgen (down $2.47 to $58.00, Charts) said it cancelled a late-stage trial of its colon cancer treatment after finding that it hurt chances of survival. (Full story) Amgen shares lost 4 percent.

Shares of automakers gained. DaimlerChrysler (up $5.01 to $82.61, Charts) jumped on a report that auto parts supplier Magna and a private equity partner may have offered to buy its Chrysler unit for as much as $4.7 billion. (Full story)

General Motors (up $1.43 to $31.75, Charts) jumped after saying it will pay stock bonuses to its top executives for the first time since 2003, reflecting the company's recent turnaround efforts. The company reported a fourth-quarter profit last week.

Ford Motor (down $0.03 to $8.05, Charts) gained too.

In other news, Citigroup (down $0.26 to $51.58, Charts) may be considering a rival offer for Dutch bank ABN Amro, which is already in discussions with British bank Barclays about a potential merger.

Jabil Circuits (down $2.87 to $22.06, Charts), a contract electronics manufacturer for tech and telecom companies, slumped 11 percent after warning that third- and fourth- quarter results won't meet forecasts.

Market breadth was mixed. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers four to three on volume of 1.03 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners four to three on volume of 1.31 billion shares.

U.S. light crude oil for May delivery rose 59 cents to $62.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on the reports that the British sailors were seized.

That helped lift oil stocks like Exxon Mobil (up $0.70 to $75.06, Charts), Valero Energy (up $0.79 to $63.49, Charts) and Sunoco (up $0.84 to $71.15, Charts). The Amex Oil (up 10.90 to 1,213.04, Charts) index added 0.7 percent.

But other commodity stocks were weaker, including gold and silver miners.

COMEX gold for April delivery fell $6.70 to $657.70 an ounce.

Treasury prices slumped, raising the yield on the 10-year note to about 4.62 percent from 4.58 percent late Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro and the yen.

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