Wall Street ends flat but posts gains for week

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed on Friday, and major indexes closed a third consecutive week of gains, on the back of strong economic data and an earnings season that is on track to confirm profit contraction bottomed earlier in the year.

Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> ended up 8.43 points, or 0.05 percent, to 18,514.84, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 2.21 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,161.54 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 4.47 points, or 0.09 percent, to 5,029.59.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Nick Zieminski)