Stocks Ended Lower After Yellen Remarks

Stocks ended lower on Friday as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen reconfirmed that the central bank remains on track to raise interest rates this year.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 53.72 points, or 0.29%, to 18,232.02 and ended the week with a 0.2% loss.The S&P 500 was down 4.76 points, or 0.22%, to 2,126.06, but gained 0.2% over the week. The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.43 points, or 0.03%, to 5,089.36, but posted a 0.8% gain over the week.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Friday said she expected the central bank to raise rates this year as the U.S. economy was on course to bounce back from a sluggish first quarter and as headwinds at home and abroad begin to wane.

Oil futures settled lower on Friday, with the U.S. benchmark scoring its 10th straight week gain by a thread, as concerns over the global glut of crude supplies persisted ahead of a long holiday weekend. July crude settled at $59.72 a barrel, down $1, or 1.7% on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) had reportedly been in talks to buy Salesforce.com (CRM) earlier this spring but the discussions fizzled out after the two failed to see eye-to-eye on price, according to CNBC.