Stocks Ended Mostly Higher Friday, Gained in May

U.S. stocks ended mostly higher on Friday and booked sharp gains for the week and month, after a news conference from President Donald Trump on China turned out to be not as disruptive to trade and finance as had been feared. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 17.53 points, or 0.07%, to 25,383.11. The S&P 500 gained 14.58 points, or 0.48%, to 3,044.31. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 120.88 points, or 1.29%, to 9,489.87. For the week, the Dow closed 3.8% higher, the S&P 500 gained 3%, and the Nasdaq advanced 1.8%. For the month, the Dow logged a 4.3% gain, the S&P 500 climbed 4.5%, while the Nasdaq marked a 6.8% return.

U.S. oil futures reversed course to finish higher Friday. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery rose $1.78, or 5.3%, to settle at $35.49 a barrel. Front-month U.S. benchmark WTI futures rose 88.4% for May. Brent saw its July contract tacked on 4 cents, or 0.1%, to end at $35.33 a barrel. Front-month prices rose 39.8% for the month.