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Dow +0.8%, S&P 500 +0.8%, Nasdaq +1.0%, Nasdaq 100 +0.9%, S&P 400 +0.9%, Russell 2000 +1.1%
On Friday stocks fought to reclaim the gains surrendered in the prior session. The broad market not only overcame an early loss, but managed to book a strong gain.
Financials proved to be a source of strength. The sector ascended from an early loss to a 1.2% gain with help from bank stocks, which collectively climbed 1.6%, based on the KBW Bank Index. Tech contributed to the effort by trading up to a 0.9% gain. For the week Financials advanced almost 5%, while Tech advanced little more than 4%.
Telecom scored the strongest gain after some mixed performances earlier in the week. The sector’s 1.5% gain contributed to a weekly advance of nearly 3%, which is less than what the broad market achieved.
Of the major sectors, only Energy failed to find positive territory. For the week it was up almost 4%, but on Friday it finished flat amid lower oil prices. Oil prices were down more than 2% in early pit trade, but managed to improve their position by the close. The energy component ended the day at $84.09 per barrel for a 0.8% loss. Earlier this week oil prices set a new 2012 low beneath $82 per barrel.
Shares of McDonald’s (MCD 87.75, -0.63) also sat out of the stock market’s advance. The stock was pressured because of disappointment surrounding the company’s less-than-impressive 3.3% increase in global sales during May.
Data had hardly any sway, if any at all, with market participants. Releases featured a slightly narrower trade deficit of about $50 billion, along with an in-line 0.6% increase in wholesale inventories.
The euro endured selling for the entire session, but was able to halve an early loss so that it ended the day about 0.5% lower at $1.25. In contrast to recent weeks, action among stocks was less correlated to the euro’s movements this week.
Reports suggest that Europe’s leaders will convene this weekend to address Spain’s struggling banking system. The weekend also brings some price data from China.
| Index | Started Week | Ended Week | Change | % Change | YTD % |
| DJIA | 12118.57 | 12554.20 | 435.63 | 3.6 | 2.8 |
| Nasdaq | 2747.48 | 2858.42 | 110.94 | 4.0 | 9.7 |
| S&P 500 | 1278.04 | 1325.66 | 47.62 | 3.7 | 5.4 |
| Russell 2000 | 737.42 | 769.19 | 31.77 | 4.3 | 3.8 |
