Wall Street ended Friday's session mixed as Congressional lawmakers continue discussions over additional coronavirus stimulus as daily new infections continue to surge and recent economic trend signal the need for more relief. For the week, the Dow and the S&P 500 posted their first weekly decline in three weeks, falling 0.6% and 1%, respectively. The Nasdaq also declined, losing 0.7% amid persistent uncertainty.

Washington still seeks to pass a stimulus bill before the end of 2020, but lawmakers remain in disagreement over state and local government stimulus, unemployment assistance and another round of stimulus checks.

Meanwhile, the University of Michigan's preliminary reading on consumer sentiment in December unexpectedly rose, with the headline index increasing to 81.4 from 76.9 in November.

"Consumer sentiment posted a surprising increase in early December due to a partisan shift in economic prospects," the Surveys of Consumers chief economist Richard Curtin said in a statement. "Most of the early December gain was due to a more favorable long-term outlook for the economy, while year-ahead prospects for the economy as well as personal finance remained unchanged."

Here's how the market settled to close out the week:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): -0.13% or -4.64 points to 3,663.46

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +0.16% or +47.11 points to 30,046.37

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): -0.23% or -27.94 points to 12,377.87

For Stocks, Disney (DIS  ) shares soared on Friday following the entertainment giant's Investor Day. The company disclosed that its streaming service, Disney+, currently has 86.8 million subscribers, and forecasted that subscipers could reach 230 million to 260 million by 2024. Disney also expects its streaming business to be profitable by 2024. Tesla (TSLA  ) dropped 2.7% on Friday after a surprise downgrade from Jefferies amid its multi-week rally.

For Sector Performance, sectors on the S&P continued their mostly negative trend into the end of the week. Communications Services (XLC  ) was the leader, gaining over 1%, while Consumer Staples (XLP  ), Industrials (XLI  ) and Utilities (XLU  ) all ended in positive territory. Energy (XLE  ) fell the most at 1%, while Financials (XLF  ), Materials (XLB  ) and Healthcare (XLV  ) rounded out the bottom four.

For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (UUP  ) increased as renewed concerns over a delayed U.S. fiscal stimulus and the increasing likelihood of a "no-deal" Brexit harmed risk appetite. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback's value against other global currencies, rose 0.20% during the session at 90.936. Gold (GLD  ) increased as investors continued to bet on an imminent coronavirus relief package, even as stimulus talks extend into next week. Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,839.90 per ounce, while gold futures settled 0.3% higher at $1,843.60 per ounce. Crude oil futures slumped on Friday after reaching above $50 for the first time since March on Thursday. International benchmark Brent Crude (BNO  ) fell 0.56% to $49.97 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (USO  ) slipped 0.4% to $46.57 each. Brent rose nearly 2% for the week, while WTI gained just under 1%.

The week ahead is gearing up to make or break the "Santa rally" that usually occurs at the end of the year. Next week's events include the Federal Reserve holding its final meeting of the year, the F.D.A. is expected to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, Congress may pass a new stimulus package, and Tesla will move into the S&P 500 at closing bell on Friday.