US stock markets pared early half-percent losses to close higher Friday, as the debut shares of legendary British football club Manchester United barely stayed above water after its IPO.
At the closing bell the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 42.76 points (0.32 percent) at 13,207.95.
The broader S&P 500-stock index added 3.07 (0.22 percent) to 1,405.87, while the tech-rich Nasdaq edged up 2.22 points (0.07 percent) to 3,020.86.
Shares started out lower amid profit-taking after the week's run-up, and were hurt by poor Chinese economic data.
Beijing said exports and imports slowed for the second consecutive month in July, highlighting worsening conditions in the world's second-biggest economy.
Manchester United's shares closed at $14.00, the price for their 16.7 million share, $234 million initial public offering.
The price had already been cut Thursday from the expected $16-20 range amid doubts about the team's profit-generating potential and worries over IPOs generally since the flop of Facebook's May debut.
Trade was heavy in retailer JC Penney, its shares jumping 6.0 percent despite a poor quarterly report after its chief executive said that his radically revamped marketing strategy was boosting store traffic and sales.
Goldman Sachs was down 0.6 percent despite news that the Justice Department would not prosecute the investment bank on alleged abuses in the mortgage securities market going into the 2007-08 financial crisis.
On the Nasdaq, Facebook was up 3.8 percent and Research in Motion gained 6.2 percent on speculation that IBM was interested in buying one of its units.
Yahoo! shares sank 5.3 percent amid investor disappointment with strategy changes by the company's new chief executive Marissa Mayer, including a possible decision not to hand over cash to shareholders if it sells off its shares in China's Alibaba.
Bond prices were mixed. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 1.65 percent from 1.69 percent Thursday, while the 30-year was flat at 2.74 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
