Late Rally Leaves Major Averages Higher At Close - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - Wall Street posted modest gains on Friday, as stocks benefited from a late rally. Uncertainty about whether the markets could build on recent highs led to renewed profit taking in the early going, but sentiment brightened by the afternoon and all the major averages finished in positive territory.

The Nasdaq led the pack higher, ending the session with modest gains. The Dow and S&P 500 posted losses for most of the session, but pushed above the flat line going into the close.

Specifically, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5.71 points, or less than 0.1%, to close at 16,851.84. The Nasdaq advanced 18.88 points, or 0.4%, to end at 4,397.93. The S&P 500 added 3.74 points, or 0.2%, to finish at 1,960.96.

For the week, the Dow and S&P 500 posted a mild retreat. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq was able to finish higher for the week.

Following losses during the previous session, stocks showed weakness in early trading. There was an early recovery, but shares bounced around for most of the session, with the major averages posting a mixed performance for a good part of the day. Some buying interest materialized in the afternoon, allowing Wall Street to secure modest gains by the close.

The choppy trading for most of the session reflected uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following the recent move to record highs by the Dow and the S&P 500. The temptation to take some money off the table has been countered lately by fear of missing out on further upside.

On the economic front, Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan released a report showing that consumer sentiment improved in the month of June.

The report showed that the consumer sentiment index for June was upwardly revised to 82.5 from the preliminary reading of 81.2. With the upward revision, the index exceeded economist estimates and came in above the final May reading of 81.9.

Most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day.

A decline in shares of DuPont (DD) put pressure on the chemical sector. The industry giant cut its second-quarter and full-year earnings guidance, sending the stock down 3.7% on the session.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index tumbled by 1.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged up by 0.1 percent.

The major European markets also finished the session mixed. Germany and the U.K. posted modest gains on the session. However, France finished the day lower.

In the bond market, treasuries gave up an early advance to finish the day lower. With signs of weakness in the stock market, money moved into government debt during early trading, but the market drifted lower from there. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, finished slightly higher on the day at 2.532%.