US stocks : Dow up 0.03 pct

US stocks closing: U.S. stocks advanced on Friday but failed to make up for what turned out to be the worst week for markets since June, as investors turned their attention from the presidential election to the coming negotiations over the fiscal cliff.

The market gave up some early gains after President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, in separate public remarks, made it clear that partisan sparring would likely dominate the next several weeks. The S&P 500 finished Friday's session up 0.17 percent, but it fell 2.4 percent for the week - the worst since early June.

At this point, there's no election, and there's nothing else that can distract. The junk has filtered out and the politicians will be forced to make a decision on the fiscal cliff, said Chris Hobart, CEO and founder of the Hobart Financial Group, an investment management and financial planning firm in Charlotte, N.C.

The outlook was somewhat brightened earlier in the day when new economic data showed consumer sentiment was at its highest level in more than five years, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan surveys, and wholesale inventories jumped in September, according to a Commerce Department report.

Shares of Walt Disney Co fell 6 percent to $47.06, dragging on the Dow industrials, after the company reported results late Thursday. The company said coming results will be under pressure due to declining home video sales and rising costs.

Groupon Inc's shares sank 29.6 percent to $2.76 a day after the daily deal company's results fell short of Wall Street's expectations.

The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 4.07 points, or 0.03 percent, to 12,815.39 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 2.34 points, or 0.17 percent, to 1,379.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 9.29 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 2,904.87.

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