Stocks Ended at Record Highs after Strong Data

U.S. stocks ended at record highs on Friday, as investors cheered bullish economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 50.46 points, or 0.17%, to 29,348.10. The S&P 500 gained 12.81 points, or 0.39%, to 3,329.62. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 31.81 points, or 0.34%, to 9,388.94. For the week, the Dow rose 1.8%, the S&P 500 was up nearly 2% and the Nasdaq climbed 2.3%.

Oil futures ended with a modest gain on Friday, but registered a loss for a second week in a row. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery ended little changed, up 2 cents, or 0.03%, to settle at $58.54 a barrel. March Brent advanced 23 cents, or 0.4%, to end at $64.85 a barrel. WTI saw a nearly 0.9% weekly skid, while Brent saw a weekly loss of about 0.2%.