U.S. stocks end lower, but manage solid monthly gains

U.S. stocks ended February with a whimper and a roar. The main indexes finished the week roughly where they started it, but still booked hefty monthly gains.

The S&P 500 SPX, -0.30%  ended 6.25 points, or 0.3%, lower at 2,104.73, and booked a 0.3% loss over the week. The benchmark index advanced 5.5% over the past month, however, for the best monthly gain since October 2011.