Stocks struggle on mixed news

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks struggled Friday morning as investors welcomed the positive aspects of the morning's housing sales report, but held back amid higher oil prices and rising Treasury yields.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 5.85 to 12,466.99, Charts) added a few points and the broader S&P 500 (up 0.66 to 1,435.20, Charts) index was little changed over an hour into the session. The Nasdaq (down 1.57 to 2,450.17, Charts) composite was little changed.

Stocks had struggled Thursday after the previous session's rally, which had been sparked after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and seemed to imply it was more likely to cut rates in the near term than raise them.

Stocks remained in transition mode Friday, with investors initially rewarding the housing market news, before sending stocks back to neutral.

Existing home sales rose to a 6.69 million unit annual rate in February, topping forecasts for sales to fall to a 6.30 million unit annual rate from a 6.44 million unit rate in January. It was the biggest monthly gain in nearly 3 years.

However, the median price of a home dropped for the seventh straight month, reflecting the fact that the problems for the housing market are far from over.

Among stock movers, ImClone (up $4.04 to $37.92, Charts) surged 14 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 $2.80 to $57.67, Charts) said it had cancelled a late-stage trial of its colon cancer treatment after finding that it hurt chances of survival. (Full story) Amgen shares lost 4.5 percent.

Shares of automakers gained. DaimlerChrysler (up $3.50 to $81.10, Charts) jumped on speculation that it may be closer to selling its Chrysler unit.

General Motors (up $1.52 to $31.84, 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 (up $0.10 to $8.18, Charts) gained too.

In other news, Citigroup (up $0.09 to $51.93, Charts) may be considering making a rival offer for Dutch bank ABN Amro, which is already in discussions with British bank Barclays about a potential merger.

U.S. light crude oil for May delivery rose 71 cents to $62.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on reports that 15 British naval personnel have been seized by Iran.

Treasury prices slumped, raising the yield on the 10-year note to about 4.60 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 rose versus the yen.

COMEX gold for April delivery fell $2.40 to $661.80 an ounce.

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