Stocks down for the day, but benchmarks post July gains

U.S. stocks, which went on a wild ride this month due to global crises in Greece and China, fell slightly Friday, but Wall Street closed out a volatile July with monthly gains.

Wall Street was confronted with a trio of risks this month, ranging from the near collapse of Greece's banking system and possible exit from the eurozone before sealing an 11th hour deal with creditors to what amounts to a crash in mainland China stocks from June peaks.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 0.3%  — a 56-point loss  — to 17,689.86 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 0.2% to 2103.84. The Nasdaq composite index fell fractionally to 5128.28.

How benchmarks fared for the month:

■ Nasdaq: Up 2.8%
■ S&P 500: 2%
■ Dow: Up 0.4%

In economic news, a reading on Chicago manufacturing, dubbed Chicago PMI, topped economists' expectations and hit its highest level since January.

The month's biggest loser was the Shanghai composite index, which tumbled 14.3% and which has lost roughly a third of its value since its June 12 high. Chinese stocks closed out July on a losing note, falling 1.1%. Elsewhere in Asia, the action was more positive with stocks in Hong Kong rising 0.6% and the Nikkei 225 index in Japan edging up 0.3%.

The earnings season has been solid. Profit growth is now on track for a 0.9% gain, after projections back on July 1 called for a contraction of 3%. Nearly three out of four (72%) of the 352 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results have topped expectations, better than the 63% long-term average.

Not unexpectedly, oil giants Exxon-Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CSX) reported profit results that fell shy of Wall Street estimates, dragging both stocks down nearly 5% in early trading. Oil, of course, is in a bear market, with the price of a barrel of U.S.-based crude down more than 50% from last summer's highs.

Earlier Friday, an official from the Middle-East cartel OPEC reiterated that it would not cut its daily supply of oil production, despite an oil glut around the globe.

West Texas Intermediate crude was down about 3% to $46.92 per barrel.