US stocks head higher, set stage for more milestones

By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer

Major U.S. stock indexes moved mostly higher in morning trading Friday, extending gains from a day earlier when the market climbed to all-time highs. Gains in industrial, technology and health care companies outweighed losses in banks and materials stocks. Energy companies rose along with the price of U.S. crude oil.

KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index rose 4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,935 as of 11:53 a.m. Eastern Time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 72 points, or 0.3 percent, to 26,729. The Nasdaq composite lost 6 points, or 0.1 percent, to 8,022. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gave up 5 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,715. The Dow and S&P 500 each hit all-time highs Thursday.

TAKING FLIGHT: Several airlines notched gains, part of a broad pickup in industrial sector stocks. American Airlines Group climbed 3.8 percent to $43.50, while Delta Air Lines added 3.4 percent to $60.09. Southwest Airlines rose 2.3 percent to $63.92.

FEELING CHIPPER: Texas Instruments climbed 2.2 percent to $110.86 after the chipmaker raised its quarterly dividend and said it will buy back $12 billion in stock.

PRECISION DEAL: Mazor Robotics surged 10.2 percent to $58.11 after the surgical guidance system maker agreed to be bought by Medtronic for $1.54 billion.

TARIFFS TROUBLE: Micron fell 2.8 percent to $44.79 after the chipmaker said its profits would be hurt by tariffs on Chinese imports that go into effect on Monday. The latest U.S. tariff hike on Chinese goods in a dispute over Beijing's technology policy involves an additional 10 percent tax on $200 billion of Chinese imports. The tariffs will rise to 25 percent on Jan 1. Beijing has said it would retaliate by imposing tariffs of 5 or 10 percent on $60 billion of U.S. goods including coffee, honey and industrial chemicals.

UNAPPETIZING RESULTS: United Natural Foods slumped 11.7 percent to $29.90 after the food distributor reported disappointing earnings and sales.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 0.9 percent to $70.95 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 0.5 percent to $78.58 a barrel in London.

The rise in crude oil prices sent energy stocks higher. Marathon Petroleum rose 2.5 percent to $83.94.

BOND YIELDS: Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held at 3.07 percent.

CURRENCY: The dollar rose to 112.54 yen from Thursday's 112.48 yen. The euro edged down to $1.1753 from $1.1776. The British pound weakened to $1.3084 from $1.3268 after British Prime Minister Theresa May said talks over exiting the European Union are at an impasse.

MARKETS OVERSEAS: In Europe, Germany's DAX gained 0.7 percent, while France's CAC 40 rose 0.7 percent. London's FTSE 100 index climbed 1.5 percent. Major indexes in Asia finished mostly higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.7 percent and Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.8 percent. Seoul's Kospi added 0.7 percent. Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 picked up 0.4 percent.