US stocks ended the week in negative note on Friday, but the strong industrial output numbers helped the S&P 500 and the Dow Industrials to gain marginally, while the Nasdaq was barely changed.
February industrial production jumped 1.1 per cent, the largest increase in four months, reports Reuters.
Energy led the major sectors of the S&P 500 with a 1.0 per cent gain, as oil prices CLc1 rose 1.7 per cent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 72.85 points, or 0.29 per cent, to end the week at 24,946.51, the S&P 500 gained 4.68 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 2,752.01 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.25 point, or 0 per cent, to 7,481.99.
For the week, the Dow fell 1.57 per cent, the S&P lost 1.04 per cent, and the Nasdaq dropped 1.27 per cent.
Walmart Inc gained 1.9 per cent after the University of Michigan’s preliminary reading of its consumer sentiment index rose more than expected to 102.0.
Adobe Systems Inc was up 3.1 per cent, hitting an all-time high during the session, after the Photoshop maker topped analysts’ profit and revenue estimates for the seventh straight quarter.
Micron Technology Inc rose 3.0 per cent after Baird analysts raised their price target on the stock by $40 to $100. Western Digital Corp gained 4.1 per cent, hitting a three-year high during the session, after Baird upgraded the stock’s rating to “outperform.”
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.01-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.48-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and three new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 178 new highs and 50 new lows.
Volume on US exchanges was 9.54 billion shares, compared to the 7.2 billion average over the last 20 trading days.