U.S. stocks were saddled with modest declines in Friday trade and the main indexes were set to book a weekly loss, weighed by lackluster quarterly earnings and mixed economic data.

The main indexes ticked modestly lower after a housing report showed that sales of new-single family homes in the U.S. dropped to the slowest pace in seven months (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-home-sales-drop-68-in-june-to-slowest-pace-in-seven-months-2015-07-24).

The S&P 500 was down about 5 points, or 0.3%, at 2,096, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 28 points, or 0.2%, lower at 17,7706.19, turning sharply lower from earlier trade.

The Nasdaq Composite turned negative, down 7 points, or 0.1%, at 5,140.13 after being the lone bright spot in early trade Friday. Share of Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), which it an intraday record in early trade after the online retailing giant posted a surprise profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/amazon-posts-surprising-profit-shares-surge-2015-07-23-16485316) late Thursday was limiting losses in the tech-heavy index.

Stocks have rung up three days of losses in a rough week for Wall Street, which has been hurt by disappointing quarterly reports from big companies like Apple Inc. (AAPL), Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) and IBM (IBM), as well as a commodities selloff (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-isnt-even-close-to-being-the-biggest-loser-among-commodities-2015-07-22).

However some bright spots for the S&P 500 included Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR), Visa Inc. (V) and Starbucks Corp. (SBUX), which were higher after upbeat earnings.

Among the S&P 500 sectors, materials stocks were hit the hardest, with the sector looking at a 3.8% drop over the week, while the energy sector was on track to book a loss of 3%.

What strategists are saying: Despite this week’s retreat, some market watchers remain upbeat.

“Many of the background conditions that had concerned investors, like Greece and the Iranian nuclear program, have turned favorable,” Byron Wein, a senior adviser at Blackstone, said in a note released Thursday.

“That should improve the outlook for equities in the other major markets around the world,” he added.

Leading growth stocks also are sending a positive signal about the broader market, according to MarketWatch contributor Kevin Marder. “The bottom line is that when institutional must-owns like Amazon.com, Facebook (FB) and Netflix (NFLX) — let alone other, smaller growth stocks — move to new-high ground on solid volume amid a sketchy general market, the market is sending a valuable message (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-leading-growth-stocks-point-to-a-higher-market-2015-07-22),” he writes.

Key economic reports:New-home sales drop 6.8% in June to slowest pace in seven months (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-home-sales-drop-68-in-june-to-slowest-pace-in-seven-months-2015-07-24)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-home-sales-drop-68-in-june-to-slowest-pace-in-seven-months-2015-07-24)Other markets: European stocks traded mostly higher Friday, while Chinese equities closed lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinese-shares-hold-onto-gains-as-rest-of-asia-struggles-2015-07-24), but still achieved their third weekly gain in a row.

Gold resumed its downward slide (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-resumes-downward-slide-2015-07-24-11031138), but the U.S. oil benchmark rose (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-weak-after-latest-drop-china-data-disappoints-2015-07-24-11032827). Crude prices have now traded more than 20% lower than a 2015 settle high of $61.43 in June, meeting at least one criterion for entering a bear market. The dollar traded up against its major rivals.

Movers and Shakers: Biogen Inc. (BIIB) dropped 17% after reporting weaker-than-anticipated second-quarter results growth and cutting its 2015 revenue outlook.

TripAdvisor Inc.(TRIP) said its second-quarter profit fell 15% while revenues missed estimates. Shares sank 9%.