By Anora Mahmudova, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks reversed early gains and finished Friday lower but still recorded modest weekly gains. The main indexes marched higher in the morning, with the S&P 500 hitting a new intraday record of 1,883.97, but gains dissipated by afternoon, as stocks were hit by gyrations due to the so-called quadruple witching day, or expiration of options.

The S&P 500 (SPX) ended the day 5.61 points, or 0.3%, lower at 1,866.40. The benchmark index recorded a weekly gain, rising 1.4% for the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) added 28.28 points, or 0.2%, to 16,302.77. The blue-chip index gained 1.5% over the past five trading days.

The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) finished the day 42.50 points, or 1%, lower at 4,276.79, with the biotech stocks hit the hardest on the index. iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF fell 4.7%. Friday's losses dented the tech-heavy index's weekly gain to 0.7%.

"Today's action in the market was mostly technical. Perhaps, investors had second thoughts about the events in Russia. Typically, on the days when options expire, gyrations can cause selloffs," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.

Stocks had fallen Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen suggested the central bank could begin raising interest rates about six months after it ends its bond-buying program. However, they mostly recovered on Thursday on the back of upbeat manufacturing data from the Philadelphia's Federal Reserve.

Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota, the sole dissenter on the FOMC, released a statement on Friday in which he criticized the Fed's new guidance, saying it "weakens the credibility of FOMC's commitment to target 2% inflation" and "fosters policy uncertainty and thereby suppresses economic activity."

Other Fed speakers on Friday included St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, as well as former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Fed Gov. Jeremy Stein is scheduled to speak on 'incorporating financial stability considerations into a monetary policy framework' at 7:20 p.m. Eastern.

Among individual stocks, Unwired Planet (UPIP), an intellectual property company focused on the mobile industry, soared 49% after news that Chinese computer-maker Lenovo Group Ltd. was buying 21 of its patent families for $100 million.

CommScope Holding Co. Inc. (COMM) jumped 10% after the telecommunications-gear maker raised its guidance for the current quarter in its earnings report. The company said it expects to earn between 43 cents and 47 cents per share on revenue of $900 million to $925 million.

Shares of Nike Inc. (NKE) were down 5.1% after the company late Thursday reported fiscal third-quarter adjusted profit above analysts' forecasts. Sales increased 13%, but the sneaker giant warned that a stronger dollar will remain a drag on earnings.

Symantec Corp. (SYMC) slid 13% after the security-software maker fired Chief Executive Steve Bennett late Thursday and replaced him with board member Michael Brown.

Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) rose 2.8% even as the firm said profit and sales fell compared with a year earlier. Darden is spinning off its Red Lobster chain.

In other financial markets, the dollar pulled back after rising on Thursday on the back of Yellen's dollar-supportive interest-rate comments. The weaker greenback provided support for oil and metals, which moved broadly higher. Asian markets closed mostly in the black, and European markets followed them higher early on Friday.

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