Stocks Finish With Small Gains; Amazon Rallies

U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday as a rally in Amazon.com Inc. and deal activity overshadowed concern over financial stress in Europe. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 28.74 points, or 0.17%, to 16,943.81, bur recorded a 0.7% weekly loss. The S&P 500 closed up 2.83 points, or 0.14%, to 1,967.51 and finished the week 0.9% lower. The Nasdaq Composite added 19.29 points, or 0.44%, to 4,415.49, but was 1.6% lower over the week.

Amazon.com showed off three new mobile products for its Amazon Web Services [AWS] business. The mobile offerings involve better analytic tools and a new document storage and collaboration service for enterprises. Amazon is scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings results on July 24.

Reynolds American and Lorillard are in the final stages of agreeing a complex merger that will reshape Big Tobacco by bringing together two of the three largest US operators with a combined market capitalisation of $56bn.

General Motors Co. has hired Johan de Nysschen, currently head of Nissan Motor Co.’s Infiniti luxury car division, as executive vice president in charge of the Cadillac brand, in a move that brings an outsider’s perspective to one of the auto maker’s most critical marketing challenges.