Industrial companies lead stock indexes mostly higher

Associated Press

Wall Street closed out the final day of the second quarter with slight gains after a broad rally faded in the last few minutes of trading Friday.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index eked out tiny gains, while the Nasdaq composite closed essentially flat.

Industrial stocks and consumer-focused companies led the gainers. Energy stocks also rose as crude-oil prices closed higher for the seventh-straight day. Utilities, technology and health care companies were among the biggest decliners.

Trading was mostly subdued ahead of the Independence Day holiday next week, though many investors seized on the final trading day of the quarter and the previous day’s market slide to buy more shares or close out positions and book profits.

“Overall we’re ending this quarter with a strong market, even though technology has taken a hit, other sectors have moved up,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial.

The major stock indexes got off to a shaky start early Friday, but soon veered higher and held course for much of the day. A last-minute flurry of selling nudged the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 slightly into the red.

The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended the week in negative territory. This was also the worst week of the year for the Nasdaq and the third loss in the last four weeks for the tech-heavy index.

The market’s snapshot at the halfway mark for 2017 is more encouraging, however.

Strong corporate earnings and revenue have underpinned the market’s gains this year.