Stocks Ended Friday and Week with Gains

U.S. stocks closed slightly higher on Friday, ending a third consecutive week with gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 74.22 points, or 0.43%, to 17,215.97 and booked a 0.8% weekly gain. The S&P 500 gained 9.25 points, or 0.46%, to 2,033.11 and gained 0.9% over the week. The Nasdaq Composite was up 16.59 points, or 0.34%, to 4,886.69 and gained 1.2% over the week.

Consumer sentiment climbed more than forecast in October as lower-income Americans projected wage gains will accelerate and falling energy prices helped stretch paychecks.The University of Michigan’s preliminary consumer sentiment index for this month rose to 92.1, the first advance in four months, from 87.2 in September, a report showed Friday.

United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL.N) said Friday its recently named chief executive, Oscar Munoz, had been hospitalized, but the airline did not confirm a report in The Wall Street Journal that said he had suffered a heart attack.

California employers added just 8,200 net new jobs in September, a gain much lower than in recent months, the state Employment Development Department said Friday.

Cablevision Systems Inc and Viacom Inc have settled an antitrust lawsuit in which Cablevision had accused Viacom of forcing distributors and subscribers to buy channels they did not want.