Stocks Ended Higher, Closed Out Strong Month and Quarter

U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday, with technology stocks leading the day’s gains as the sector extended its recent rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 23.89 points, or 0.11%, to 22,405.09. The S&P 500 gained 9.30 points, or 0.37%, to 2,519.36. The Nasdaq Composite added 42.51 points, or 0.66%, to 6,495.96. For the week, the Dow rose 0.2% and the S&P rose 0.7%, the Nasdaq rose 1.1%. For the month of September, the Dow rose 2.1%, the S&P rose 1.9% and the Nasdaq rose 1.1%. For the quarter, the Dow rose 4.8%, the S&P was up 4% and the Nasdaq rose 5.8%.

Oil prices climbed on Friday, marking their first quarterly gain of 2017, as investors considered the potential fallout from the independence referendum in the oil-rich Kurdish region of Iraq. November West Texas Intermediate crude added 11 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $51.67 a barrel. The front-month contract was up about 2% for the week, up 7.7% for the month and saw quarterly rise of 10.5%. November Brent crude tacked on 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $57.54 a barrel. The contract gained roughly 1.1% for the week, 8.8% for the month and 16.6% for the quarter.