Wall Street ended higher on Friday as investors shrugged off concerns about global trade tensions but trading volume was relatively light ahead of a busy week of central bank meetings.
The S&P 500 stayed in positive territory in the afternoon after reversing losses in the early afternoon with its biggest boosts coming from the health care and consumer staples sectors.
Investors appeared to put aside worries about US relations with its biggest trading partners. G7 major nations started what was expected to be a tense meeting after US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, the European Union and Mexico.
Expectations for any breakthroughs at the two-day meeting in La Malbaie, Quebec, were low. “It’s highly unlikely there will be a final communique,” a G7 official said on condition of anonymity.
But some investors appeared hesitant ahead of US and European central bank meetings and a North Korea-US summit set for June 12, reports Reuters.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 75.12 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 25,316.53, the S&P 500 gained 8.61 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 2,778.98 and the Nasdaq Composite added 10.44 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 7,645.51.
For the week, the S&P rose 1.62 per cent while the Dow added 2.76 per cent and the Nasdaq gained 1.21 per cent.
The consumer staples index was the biggest percentage gainer of the S&P’s 11 major sectors, with a 1.3 per cent advance.
The Healthcare index was the S&P’s boost with a 0.7 per cent gain and its biggest driver was Allergan, which rose 4.3 per cent.
The technology sector was barely positive with a 0.03 per cent gain. Dragging on the sector was Apple Inc and its suppliers which were down following a report that the iPhone maker was planning to produce fewer phones this year. Apple was last down 1.0 per cent.
An unprecedented meeting between Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un is also scheduled for June 12 in Singapore.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.42-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.09-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 143 new highs and 20 new lows.
