U.S. market indexes were higher on Friday and finished the week with gains. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18570.85 for a gain of 53.62 points or 0.29 percent. The S&P 500 was also higher, closing at 2175.03 for a gain of 9.86 points or 0.46 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 5100.16 for a gain of 26.26 points or 0.52 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 11.99 for a loss of -0.75 points or -5.89 percent.

For the week the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished higher by 0.28 percent and the S&P 500 was higher by 0.60 percent. The Nasdaq Composite was also higher by 1.40 percent.

Friday’s Market Movers

Stocks managed to report additional gains on Friday with economic factors and a positive outlook on earnings helping to improve valuations. The day’s two leading economic indicators were the PMI Manufacturing Index Flash Report and the Baker-Hughes Rig Count. The PMI Manufacturing Index Flash Report increased to 52.9 from 51.4. The Baker-Hughes Rig Count Report showed the North American rig count increasing to 564 from 542.

Stocks actively trading for the day included Chesapeake Energy, General Electric, Bank of America, Southwestern Energy, PayPal Holdings, Intel, Microsoft, AT&T, Apple and Ford.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led gains for the day:

Gains (percent)
Visa Inc Class A  1.42
Microsoft Corp  1.38
American Express Co      1.34
Verizon Communications Inc       1.32
Intel Corp            1.14

Top sectors for the broad market were utilities, financial and technology. In technology, stocks leading gains for the day included:

Gains (percent)
Vodafone Group PLC ADR             4.09
American Airlines Group Inc        4.00
NVIDIA Corp       2.72
Citrix Systems Inc             2.18
Autodesk Inc      2.08

In commodities, gold traded lower as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a loss of -0.98 percent or -0.77 percent. The dollar was higher for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.42 points or 0.43 percent to 97.39.

Small-Cap Stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 1212.89 for a gain of 9.03 points or 0.75 percent. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index was higher at 741.86 for a gain of 4.87 points or 0.66 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index closed at 7389.07 for a gain of 54.45 points or 0.74 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index closed at 8715.56 for a gain of 60.15 points or 0.69 percent.

Other Notable Indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index which closed at 1552.34 for a gain of 10.27 points or 0.67 percent; the S&P 100 Index which closed at 962.29 for a gain of 3.21 points or 0.33 percent; the Russell 3000 Index which closed at     1283.57 for a gain of 6.31 points or 0.49 percent; the Russell 1000 Index which closed at 1204.29 for a gain of 5.68 points or 0.47 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index which closed at 626.03 for a gain of 4.01 points or 0.64 percent.