Stocks Close Higher; Nasdaq Gains Over Week

U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday after an abrupt late-day reversal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.50 points, or 0.27%, to 16,491.31, limiting the weekly loss to 0.6%. The S&P 500 added 7.01 points, or 0.37%, to 1,877.86 and finished the week roughly where it started it. The Nasdaq Composite was up 21.29 points, or 0.52%, at 4,090.59 and gained 0.5% over the week.

Consumer sentiment unexpectedly fell in May, as consumers worried about stagnant wage growth, according to a survey released Friday. The preliminary May reading of the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index slumped to a reading of 81.8, down from 84.1 in April.

Former SAC Capital portfolio manager Michael Steinberg was sentenced to 42 months in prison today, after being convicted of insider trading in two technology stocks as part of a case that reached the highest levels of his former firm.

Utah’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.8 percent in April as the job market continued to show slow but steady improvement, the state Department of Workforce Services said Friday.