Stocks Ended Slightly Lower, but Held Weekly Gains

U.S. stocks closed slightly lower on Friday, but ended week on a high note, amid new economic data gauging the health of the U.S. and Chinese economies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 17.16 points, or 0.07%, to 26,089.61. The S&P 500 fell 4.66 points, or 0.16%, to 2,886.98. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 40.47 points, or 0.52%, to 7,796.66. For the week, the Dow was up 0.4%, the S&P gained 0.5% and the Nasdaq rose 0.7%.

Crude futures settled higher on Friday. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery rose 23 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $52.51 a barrel. Front-month contract prices lost 2.7% for the week. August Brent crude added 70 cents, or 1.1%, to $62.01 a barrel. Brent finished down 2% for the week.

U.S. retail sales increased 0.5% in May, with broad-based gains, the Commerce Department said Friday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a solid 0.7% gain.

U.S. industrial production rose at a quicker pace than expected in May. The Federal Reserve reported an increase of 0.4% in industrial production for the month, reversing a decline of the same magnitude in April. This was better than the 0.2% rise in May industrial production consensus economists expected.