Analysts said investors were remaining confident about a strong economic rebound but were being cautious for now. Trading also was choppy because of quadruple-witching day, the quarterly expiration of index futures and options as well as individual stock futures and options.

"Investors more or less are taking a pause after a pretty nice runup," said Richard J. Nash, chief market strategist at Victory Capital Management. "With the lack of any real economic data today, folks might just be booking some profits into the weekend."

The Dow Jones industrials closed down 14.31, or 0.2 percent, at 9,644.82, having gained 113 points in the previous session to their first close above 9,600 since June 18, 2002.

The Nasdaq composite index fell 3.81, or 0.2 percent, to 1,905.74, after climbing to its highest close in 18 months on Thursday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index declined 3.27, or 0.3 percent, to 1,036.31, having finished at its highest level in 15 months Thursday.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.8 percent, the Nasdaq gained 2.7 percent and the S&P advanced 1.7 percent.

Stocks have surged since mid-March as investors grow increasingly optimistic about the economic outlook. Some analysts say the recent data bodes well for the upcoming third-quarter season. "The economic data just continues to surprise on the upside," Nash said. "We had pretty decent reports on leading economic indicators and the housing market. … That type of data is kind of fueling optimism that this is not going to be a flash in the pan recovery.

FedEx Corp. fell $2.35 to $66.25 after Morgan Stanley lowered the company’s stock rating to "equal-weight" from "overweight."

Palm Inc. dropped $1.52 to $21.05 after the tech company narrowed its quarterly loss; however, revenue came in at the low end of forecasts.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. declined $1.82 to $54.83 after The Wall Street Journal reported the company was being investigated by the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Gainers included Nike Inc., which climbed $4.25 to $61.50, after the athletic shoe maker reported quarterly profits that beat estimates by 10 cents per share.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was moderate.

The Russell 2000 index, a barometer of smaller company stocks, rose 0.74, or 0.1 percent, to 520.20.