Stocks closed higher Friday, although that was no sure thing, the way indexes faded in the afternoon.
The Nasdaq composite finished 0.1% higher after surrendering most of a 0.9% increase. The Nasdaq did hold above the 50-day moving average. That show of support was encouraging, and some of the composite’s top stocks made similar bounces.
Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL) and Alphabet (GOOGL) are rising after touching their 50-day average this week, though they also faded late. Amazon.com came close to hitting its 10-week moving average and also is rebounding.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.1% and also held above the 50-day moving average.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2%. Nike (NKE) was the Dow’s darling after the athletic apparel company beat profit and sales expectations late Thursday. Nike also announced a $15 billion stock buyback. The stock soared nearly 12% in big volume after finding support at the 50-day moving average.
But for the week, indexes logged losses of roughly 1% to 2%.
Small caps lagged. The Russell 2000 ended 0.1% lower Friday amid the late market swoon.
Volume fell, according to early figures. That was a bit of a surprise because the final day of the month or quarter usually causes window-dressing trading. That’s when mutual funds and other institutional investors add winning stocks to make their portfolios look excellent, even if they missed the major climbs.
Energy stocks continued to advance. Oil prices had their best week since April, and their best month advance since April 2016.
Fiber optics, semiconductor equipment, biotechs and networking were leading industry groups that gave the technology sector a leg up.
