Stocks Finished Higher for the Week

U.S. stocks finished higher on Friday and for the week, ahead of the long holiday weekend. On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.28 points, or 0.02%, to 20,624.05. The S&P 500 was up 3.94 points, or 0.17%, to 2,351.16. The Nasdaq Composite gained 23.68 points, or 0.41%, to 5,838.58. For the week, the Dow was up 1.8%, the S&P 500 added 1.5% and the Nasdaq gained 1.8%.

Oil futures barely budged Friday, but fell for the week—caught between larger-than-expected growth in U.S. crude stocks and reports that OPEC members may exercise an option to extend a pact to cut production by six months. March West Texas Intermediate crude rose 4 cents, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $53.40 a barrel. April Brent crude added 16 cents, or 0.3%, to $55.81 a barrel.

U.S. food company Kraft Heinz Co (KHC.O) made a surprise $143 billion offer for Unilever (ULVR.L) in a bid to build a global consumer goods giant, although it was flatly rejected on Friday by the maker of Lipton tea and Dove soap. A combination would be the third-biggest takeover in history and the largest acquisition of a UK-based company, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Deere & Company’s DE first-quarter fiscal 2017 (ended Jan 29, 2017) earnings declined 23.8% year over year to 61 cents per share. Net sales of equipment operations came in at $4.698 billion, down 1% year over year. Gross profit in the quarter came in at $901 million, down 3% year over year.