U.S. market indexes were higher Friday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18138.38 for a gain of 39.44 points or 0.22 percent. The S&P 500 was also higher, closing at 2132.98 for a gain of 0.43 points or 0.02 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed higher at 5214.16 for a gain of 0.83 points or 0.02 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 16.12 for a loss of -0.57 points or -3.42 percent.

Friday’s Market Movers

Leading economic reports on the calendar for Friday included the Producer Price Index, Retail Sales, Business Inventories, Consumer Sentiment and the Baker Hughes Rig Count. The Producer Price Index increased 0.7 percent for the year. The Producer Price Index excluding food and energy gained 1.2 percent. Retail sales were up 0.6 percent from a month ago. Business inventories increased 0.2 percent. The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index was reported at 87.9, up from its previous reading of 91.2. The Baker Hughes Rig Count was higher by 15 rigs for the week.

Stocks gained for the day after signs of economic improvement and positive reports from banking stocks. Leading large cap banking stocks JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all posted positive earnings results for the third quarter.

Stocks trading actively for the day included the following:

Bank of America

Wells Fargo

Chesapeake Energy

Apple

Citigroup

Salesforce.com

Microsoft

JPMorgan

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average the following stocks led gains:

Goldman Sachs 1.89

Intel 1.31

DuPont 1.28

Microsoft 0.88

Top sectors for the broad market were financial and technology. The S&P 500 technology sector gained 0.38 percent. Stocks leading gains in technology included the following:

Salesforce.com 5.15

Level 3 Communications 2.37

Analog Devices 2.22

First Solar Inc. 2.04

In commodities, gold traded lower as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a loss of -0.67 points or -0.56 percent. The dollar was higher for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index gained 0.56 points or 0.57 percent to 98.11.

Small-Cap Stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 Index was lower at 1212.41 for a loss of -3.34 points or -0.27 percent. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index was lower at 736.68 for a loss of -0.97 points or -0.13 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index was lower at 7367.74 for a loss of -34.31 points or -0.46 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index was lower at 8546.03 for a loss of -1.66 points or -0.02 percent.

Other Notable Indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1519.82 for a gain of 0.22 points or 0.01 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 946.89 for a gain of 0.47 points or 0.05 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1261.09 for a loss of -0.30 points or -0.02 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1181.54 for a loss of -0.04 points or 0.01 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 601.22 for a loss of -0.22 points or -0.04 percent.