By Dan Strumpf 

The S&P 500 turned lower in afternoon trading, led by declines in health-care stocks, though the index remained on track for strong weekly gains.

The benchmark fell a point, or 0.1%, to 1871, after rallying to an intraday record of 1884 shortly after the market open.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 39 points, or 0.2%, to 16370.

The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 23 points, or 0.5%, to 4296, pressured by falling shares of software maker Symantec.

Stocks gave back most of their gains in afternoon trading but were still set to cap a positive, if volatile, week in which upbeat economic data soothed investor concerns about a slowdown earlier this year. Stocks have recovered their losses sustained on Wednesday, when investors were spooked after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen suggested the central bank may raise interest rates sooner than expected.

"It has been a good week for the market," said Paul Zemsky, chief investment officer for multi-asset strategies at ING Investment Management. "Overall the economic data in the U.S. was pretty good and went a long way to convincing traders that the slowdown we saw [earlier in the year] was weather related."

The S&P 500 gained 0.6% on Thursday and 1.7% so far this week.

An upbeat report on factory activity sent stocks climbing on Thursday, offering investors additional assurances that weaker reports earlier in the year reflected the harsh winter weather rather than a true slowdown in growth.

"We're shaking off the deleterious effects of the weather and the economy's starting to improve," said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors, which manages about $400 billion. Mr. Orlando said he is favoring corners of the market that benefit from a pickup in the economy, including consumer discretionary, financial and technology stocks.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was lower at 2.758% from 2.775% late on Thursday.

Keith Bliss, senior vice president at brokerage Cuttone & Co., said trading volumes were light on the final day of the week. He said investors likely overreacted in selling off stocks so steeply on Wednesday in the wake of Ms. Yellen's remarks. "I am continually amazed at the knee-jerk reaction in the stock market when someone says something like that," he said. "It is one data point in thousands of data points."

Friday marks what traders refer to as "quadruple witching," the simultaneous expiration of futures and options on indexes and individual stocks. The phenomenon typically leads to a ramp-up in volume during the final hour of trading, as investors and dealers move to close out or roll over positions ahead of expiration.

Gold futures gained 0.6% to $1338 an ounce, snapping a four-day losing streak, while crude-oil futures added 0.4% to $99.30 a barrel.

The dollar lost some ground against the euro and the yen.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3% and was up 2% on the week after slumping 4.7% over the previous two weeks. Germany's DAX 30 index advanced 0.6%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.4%, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.4%.

Tensions over Ukraine continued to punish Russian markets. The country's Micex index fell 1.5% in response to a second round of U.S. sanctions. The index was still up 4.8% on the week but down 10% so far this month.

President Barack Obama said on Thursday that the U.S. would impose a new round of sanctions on 20 Russians and on Bank Rossiya, which was described by the U.S. Treasury Department as a personal bank for senior Russian officials. The move freezes assets held in U.S. institutions and bars Americans from doing business with those on the list.

Fitch Ratings cut its outlook on Russia's sovereign debt, which is currently rated two notches above junk status at triple-B, to negative from stable. That followed a similar move by Standard & Poor's on Thursday.

Asian markets rose, with China's Shanghai Composite running up 2.7% on expectations that fundraising regulations for property developers will be loosened further. Japan's market was closed for a holiday.

Utilities stocks, traditionally a defensive corner of the market, led gainers in the S&P 500 index. Financial stocks also rallied, with the S&P 500 Financial index up 0.3%, after the Federal Reserve announced that 29 out of the nation's 30 biggest banks passed "stress tests" designed to measure their ability to withstand a severe economic downturn.

Zions Bancorp. fell 4.6%. The regional lender was the only one of the 30 institutions surveyed that fell short of the Fed's stress test.

The biotech sector was among the biggest losers Friday following a congressional complaint about the high prices of Gilead Sciences Inc.'s hepatitis C drug. Shares fell 3.9%.

Dow component Nike Inc. fell 4% after the sporting-gear company said it expected next fiscal-year's earnings to rise less than current projections, which overshadowed better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings and revenue.

Symantec slid 12.2% after the software company announced the termination of Steve Bennett as its chief executive officer after fewer than two years on the job. The company named board member Michael Brown as the interim CEO. Symantec affirmed its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue outlook.

Tiffany & Co. rose 2.5% as investors shrugged off the high-end jewelry retailer's disappointing fourth-quarter earnings report. The company also announced a new $300 million stock buyback program.

Ann Inc. surged 14.1% after private-equity firm Golden Gate Capital disclosed a 9.5% stake in the retailer, which operates Ann Taylor and Loft branded stores.

Write to Dan Strumpf at daniel.strumpf@wsj.com

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