Investors were in a laid-back mood at the end of what's been a stellar week for the stock market. The Cboe Volatility Index, a widely-followed fear gauge that trades under the ticker VIX, fell 0.6% to 17.

On Wall Street, Charter Communications rose 1.8% after it said it agreed to merge with Cox Communications in a deal that would combine two of the country’s largest cable companies. The resulting company will change its name to Cox Communications and keep Charter’s headquarters in Stamford, Conn..

Stocks drifted to a mixed close on Wall Street, holding on to most of the gains they made earlier in the week after the U.S. and China declared a temporary cease-fire in their trade war.