US close: Stocks finish week off strong as investors shrug off weak data

(Sharecast News) - US stock markets finished out a strong week in solid fashion, with all three Wall Street benchmarks putting in decent gains as investors shrugged off gloomy economic data to focus on an improving trade outlook.

The Dow finished 0.8% higher, the S&P 500 gained 0.7% while the Nasdaq rose 0.5%, despite data on US consumer confidence, building permits and housing starts all missing market forecasts.

The three benchmark indices have gained 3.4%, 5.3% and 7.2% over the past five trading sessions, respectively, with sentiment boosted by last weekend's agreement between the US and China to lower tariffs for 90 days as the two powerhouses continue trade negotiations.

Meanwhile, billion-dollar AI deals between Saudi Arabia and several American chip and server manufacturers have given markets an extra boost, as president Donald Trump continued his tour of the Middle East.

"This week, investors welcomed the easing of US-China trade tensions, which significantly reduced fears of a global recession," said Patrick Munnelly, partner of market strategy at Tickmill Group. "This optimism was further supported by mild economic data and generally strong corporate earnings, despite some lingering caution in the market."

Stocks held on to gains after Trump announced that the administration would be writing to the other 150 trading partners seeking deals within the next three weeks "telling people what they will be paying to do business in the United States."

Economic data disappoints

Markets largely ignored the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index released mid-morning, which showed that confidence in the US dropped to its lowest level in nearly three years.

The closely watched gauge fell to 50.8 in May, down from 52.2 in April and well below the 53.4 pencilled in by economists. This was 26.5% lower than the same month the year before (69.1) and the lowest level for the gauge since June 2022.

In other economic data, US building permits fell 4.7% to 1.41m last month, according to the Census Bureau, hitting their lowest level in 11 months and missing the consensus forecast of 1.45m.

Housing starts, meanwhile, rose 1.6% over the month of April to 1.36m, following a 10.1% drop in March. However, that was still 1.7% below last year's levels and under analysts' estimates of 1.37m.

Market movers

Microsoft was flat after offering a series of new concessions to the European Commission on Friday, in a bid to settle a long-running antitrust investigation into the bundling of its Teams communications app with Office 365. Its proposal reportedly included unbundling Teams from its Office and Microsoft 365 software suites, offering those products at a lower price without Teams, and enhancing interoperability for rival services.

Shares in Charter Communications jumped on the news that the cable company will merge with competitor Cox Communications.

Meanwhile, Corona and Modelo maker Constellation Brands was higher on the news that Berkshire Hathaway doubled its stake in the beer and wine producers.

Dow Jones - Risers

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $291.91 6.40%

3M Co. (MMM) $153.09 2.94%

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $98.24 1.96%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $76.09 1.68%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $318.44 1.31%

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $43.97 1.17%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $151.33 1.15%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $63.11 1.14%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $353.46 1.08%

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $113.30 1.07%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $63.62 -1.00%

Boeing Co. (BA) $205.92 -0.20%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $142.10 -0.11%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $211.26 -0.09%

S&P 500 - Risers

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $291.91 6.40%

Fiserv Inc. (FI) $166.66 4.73%

Humana Inc. (HUM) $237.60 4.61%

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (LW) $53.85 3.98%

CIGNA Corp. (CI) $320.94 3.91%

Gap Inc. (GAP) $27.42 3.63%

Elevance Health Inc. (ELV) $403.29 3.41%

CVS Health Corp (CVS) $62.49 3.41%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $83.62 3.36%

Pentair plc (PNR) $101.07 3.34%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $165.57 -5.25%

Dxc Technology Company (DXC) $15.25 -4.68%

Hershey Foods Corp. (HSY) $158.48 -3.18%

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $226.74 -2.41%

Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $17.80 -2.04%

Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $85.57 -1.94%

CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $4.11 -1.91%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $791.17 -1.84%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $228.61 -1.73%

Accenture Plc (ACN) $317.36 -1.71%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Fiserv Inc. (FI) $166.66 4.73%

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $83.62 3.36%

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $417.13 3.07%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $98.00 2.67%

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $102.50 2.15%

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $349.98 2.09%

Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $9.45 1.94%

Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $56.81 1.91%

Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $427.05 1.78%

eBay Inc. (EBAY) $71.84 1.76%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qvc Group Inc Series A (QVCGA) $0.10 -14.99%

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $165.57 -5.25%

NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $119.58 -2.59%

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $226.74 -2.41%

Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $9.75 -2.40%

JD.com, Inc. (JD) $33.55 -2.33%

Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $10.03 -2.24%

Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $85.57 -1.94%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $791.17 -1.84%

Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $228.61 -1.73%