Stocks Finished Quarter with Solid Gains

U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday, but still posted sizable weekly and quarterly gains. Monthly performance was mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 65.27 points, or 0.31%, to 20,663.22. It was up 0.2% over the week, but down 0.7% over the month. The index is up 4.6% over the past quarter. The S&P 500 was down 5.34 points, or 0.23%, to 2,362.72. It gained 0.8% over the week and was flat for the month. Over the quarter, the index was up 5.5%. The Nasdaq Composite was off 2.61 points, or 0.04%, to 5,911.74. It is up 1.4% over the week, posting a 1.5% gain over the month. It returned a nearly 10% gain over the past quarter.

Oil futures settled higher Friday, with U.S. prices holding ground at a more than three-week high, but still logging a loss of almost 6% for the first quarter. May WTI crude rose 25 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at a more than three-week high of $50.60 a barrel. Prices finished about 5.8% lower for the first quarter and year to date. They’re down more than 6% for the month, but up about 5.5% for the week. May Brent oil fell by 13 cents, or 0.3%, to $52.83 a barrel. Prices have lost about 6.7% for the quarter.

The University of Michigan’s final reading of sentiment in March came in at 96.9, better than February’s 96.3 reading and near the strongest level for the measure in decades.