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 Consumer discretionary shares also lifted the market, with the stock
of Gap Inc <GPS.N> up 3.3 percent at $40.52 after the apparel
retailer reported upbeat April sales and gave a profit forecast that
surpassed Wall Street's expectations. The S&P consumer discretionary
index <.SPLRCD> was up 0.6 percent.
Apple Inc <AAPL.O> was the biggest drag on both the benchmark S&P
500 index and the Nasdaq 100 <.NDX> on news that it is close to
paying a record $3.2 billion for Beats Electronics, an expensive
foray into music streaming and headphone gear, two people with
knowledge of the matter said.
Some analysts questioned whether Beats, valued at $1 billion during
its last funding round in September, was worth that price. Apple
shares fell 0.4 percent to $585.54.
Momentum names advanced, with shares of Gilead Sciences Inc <GILD.O>
up 1.3 percent at $79.76. Netflix Inc <NFLX.O> shares rose 2.1
percent to $328.55 after the company increased the price of its most
popular video streaming plan by $1 a month.
The gains came after a volatile week for those shares. The S&P 500
has alternated between gains and losses each day this week, and the
Nasdaq has dropped for three straight sessions - its longest losing
streak since early April - as Internet-related stocks came under
pressure.
Trading was mostly lackluster, with about 5.7 billion shares
changing hands on the U.S. exchanges, below the 6.2 billion
month-to-date average, according to data from BATS Global Markets.
"The volatility and the decline in a lot of growth stuff is wearing
people out," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading
at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. "There's a lot of trader
fatigue."
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 32.37 points or 0.2
percent, to 16,583.34, the S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 2.85 points or 0.15
percent, to 1,878.48 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 20.374
points or 0.5 percent, to 4,071.869.
[to top of second column] |
 Shares of International Business Machines Corp <IBM.N> rose 0.6
percent to $190.08 and helped lift the Dow to a record close.
For the week, the Dow rose 0.4 percent, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.1
percent and the Nasdaq fell 1.3 percent. This marked the Nasdaq's
biggest weekly percentage decline in a month.
The Russell 2000 <.TOY> gained 0.9 percent. Early in the session, it
flirted with correction territory, defined as a 10 percent drop from
a recent peak. At its session low, the Russell touched 1,091.50,
nearly 10 percent below its all-time closing high of 1,208.65
reached on March 4.
Healthcare stocks rose, with shares of Merck <MRK.N> up 0.7 percent
at $55.21 a day after U.S. health regulators approved a blood-clot
prevention drug developed by Merck for use by patients who have had
a heart attack or who suffer from blockages in the arteries of the
legs. The S&P healthcare index <.SPXHC> was up 0.6 percent.
Among the day's big decliners, Rocket Fuel Inc <FUEL.O> shares
tumbled 21.5 percent to $21.83 after the technology provider for
Web-based video advertising forecast current-quarter revenue far
below expectations, prompting downgrades from Goldman Sachs and BMO
Capital.
Advancers outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange by a
ratio of about 17 to 13, while on the Nasdaq, nearly 17 stocks rose
for every nine that fell.
(Editing by Bernadette Baum, Nick Zieminski and Jan Paschal)
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