Stock Market Today

BP: Shares of BP (BP) ended little changed, erasing morning gains.

Investors weighed news that Moody’s has downgraded its debt by three notches, but still kept it at investment grade. Fellow ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut BP’s debt Thursday as the oil firm continues to struggle in the aftermath of the Gulf spill.

On Thursday, BP’s CEO Tony Hayward was grilled by U.S. lawmakers who lambasted him for being oblivious to the risks that led to the spill and for not cooperating fully with investigators in its aftermath.

Earlier this week, BP said it was canceling its quarterly dividend and agreed with President Obama’s request that it establish a $20 billion fund to cover Gulf damages.

On the move: Gains petered out with just select shares rising. Among the Dow’s movers, Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) and Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, Fortune 500) all gained.

Market breadth was mixed. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers eight to seven on volume of 1.77 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners seven to six on volume of 1.56 billion shares.

Euro: The euro was barely changed versus the dollar, which fell 0.4% against the yen.

World markets: European markets were little changed. Britain’s FTSE 100 ended just below unchanged, Germany’s DAX lost 0.1% and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.1%.

Asian markets were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei was little changed, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.7%, China’s Shanghai Composite lost 1.8%.

Commodities: U.S. light crude oil for July delivery rose 39 cents to settle at $77.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Bonds: Treasury prices tumbled, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.22% from 3.19% late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions. To top of page