Stocks End Mostly Higher To Book Best Half-year Gains In Years

U.S. stocks closed modestly higher Friday after trimming gains in the last few minutes of trading. But steep losses in technology and health-cares stocks earlier in the week resulted in poor weekly performance for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. The S&P 500 rose 3.71 points, or 0.2%, to 2,423.41, but ended the week 0.6% lower. Over the month, the large-cap index gained 0.5% and advanced by 2.6% over the past quarter. The index is up 8.2% year to date, its best half-year performance since 2013. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 62.60 points, or 0.3%, to 21,349.63, ending the week 0.2% lower. The blue-chip index gained 1.6% over the month, 3.3% over the quarter and 8% over the first half of the year. The Nasdaq Composite index reversed earlier gains to close 3.93 points, or 0.1%, lower at 6,140.42. The tech-heavy index booked a 2% weekly and 0.9% monthly loss after recent selloffs in technology stocks. Among biggest gainers this week, Nike Inc. rallied 11.6%, much of the gains coming on Friday.

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