Stocks ended flat on Friday but capped the best week for Wall Street bulls in almost three years after data showed the U.S. unemployment rate dropped to a 2-1/2 year low.

The market shed most of the 1 percent gains posted earlier in the session as traders booked profits after the S&P failed to break through technical resistance near its 200-day moving average.

Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 0.68 point, or 0.01 percent, at 12,019.35. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 0.30 point, or 0.02 percent, at 1,244.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 0.73 point, or 0.03 percent, at 2,626.93.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)