Stocks Climb, Book 2nd Straight Weekly Gain

U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, with the main benchmarks booking their second straight weekly gain, as investors lauded GE’s decision to divest most of its high-risk GE Capital business and repurchase up to $50 billion of its shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 98.92 points, or 0.55%, to 18,057.65 and gained 1.7% over the week. The S&P 500 gained 10.88 points, or 0.52%, to 2,102.06 and recorded a 1.7% gain over the week. The Nasdaq Composite was up 21.41 points, or 0.43%, to 4,995.98 and recorded a 2.2% weekly gain.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) announced on Friday a major restructuring of GE Capital, including the sale of most of the unit’s assets, and will institute a $50 billion stock buyback program with proceeds from the move.

Apple Watch appears to have sold out in about a half-hour, but that’s not necessarily because so many people wanted them. Preorders for Apple Watch began at 3 a.m. Eastern (12 a.m. Pacific), and analyst Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray said it appears supply for the actual launch date–April 24—was largely sold out within the first 10 minute to 30 minutes, depending on the model.

Amazon has won approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to begin testing delivery drones in the United States.