US close: Stocks end on mixed note ahead of 4 July weekend

NIKE -B-

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Wall Street's main indices ended the last session of the quarter on a mixed note with technology issues again lagging behind despite better than expected readings on the economy.

Heading into the 4 July weekend, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.29% or 62.60 points to 21,349.63 with the S&P 500 ahead by 0.15% or 3.71 points at 2,423.41 but the Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.06% or 3.93 points to 6,140.42.

Leading gains, by industrial groups the strongest areas of the market were: Footwear (9.51%), Home construction (1.73%) and Industrial suppliers (1.45%).

On the economic front, Market News International's Chicago business barometre jumped from a reading of 59.4 for May to 65.7 in June - a three-year high.

A gauge of new orders was especially strong, rocketing by 10.5 points to 71.9.

In parallel, personal income and spending figures for May were as expected by economists, with the most noteworthy aspect of the report being an increase in the personal savings rate from 5.1% to 5.5%.

The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index also came in above forecasts, with the final reading for June revealing a dip from 97.1 in May to 95.1 (consensus: 94.5).

Against that backdrop, oil prices were firmer, tacking on $1.15 to end at $46.04 per barrel, while 10-year US government bond yields were up by four basis points to 2.30%.

That followed news that the US oil rig count declined last week by two to 756, the first drop in 24 weeks, according to conusltancy Baker Hughes.

In corporate news, Nike shares surged after it reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales late on Thursday and confirmed a deal to sell shoes trough Amazon.

Dow Jones - Risers

Nike Inc. (NKE) $59.00 10.96%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $107.82 1.72%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $153.40 0.81%
American Express Co. (AXP) $84.24 0.73%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $68.93 0.64%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $33.74 0.60%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $44.66 0.56%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $106.25 0.51%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $122.46 0.38%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $80.71 0.31%