U.S. Stocks Close On Strong Note; Nasdaq Outperforms

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks closed on a bright note on Friday, firmly holding their gains after a positive start.

Some encouraging earnings updates from top tech firms and data showing a slowdown in the annual rate of growth in consumer prices in the month of June aided sentiment.

Easing worries about interest rates following the Federal Reserve hinting at a pause in hikes as early as September helped as well.

The major averages all ended with strong gains, with the tech-laden Nasdaq outperforming others.

The Dow ended with a gain of 176.55 points or 0.50 percent at 35,459.29. The S&P 500 advanced 44.82 points or 0.99 percent to settle at 4,582.23, while the Nasdaq climbed 266.55 points or 1.9 percent to 14,316.66.

Data from the Commerce Department showed personal income rose by 0.3 percent in June after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.5 percent in May. Economists had expected personal income to increase by 0.5 percent compared to the 0.4 percent advance originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, personal spending climbed by 0.5 percent in June after inching up by an upwardly revised 0.2 percent in May. Economists had expected personal spending to rise by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.1 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

The data showed the annual rate of growth by consumer prices slowed to 3.0 percent in June from 3.8 percent in May. Economists had expected the pace of growth to slow to 3.1 percent.

The annual rate of growth by core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, also slowed to 4.1 percent from 4.6 percent.

The slowdown in the annual rate of consumer price growth may ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates following yesterday's better-than-expected economic data.

Intel climbed more than 6.5 percent, continuing to benefit from upbeat second-quarter earnings.

Meta Platforms gained about 4.5 percent, riding on strong quarterly earnings. Microsoft surged 2.3 percent, Apple advanced 1.35 percent, and Verizon gained 1.5 percent.

P&G ended 2.8 percent higher on strong results. Boeing, Merck, American Express and Caterpillar also posted impressive gains.

Shares of Roku Inc soared more than 31 percent after the company reported stronger than expected results for the second quarter, and gave an upbeat revenue forecast.

Wallgreens Boots Alliance, Cisco Systems, McDonalds and Goldman Sachs ended weak. Chevron ended modestly lower after reporting a drop in second quarter earnings.

In overseas trading, Asian stocks ended mixed on Friday, as bond yields crept up after the release of upbeat U.S. economic data and a shift in BOJ policy.

Chinese shares logged strong gains on stimulus hopes after state media quote the housing minister as saying that the country needs measures such as lower home mortgage rates to help spur home purchases.

Japanese shares ended lower while the yen rose after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly tweaked its monetary policy framework to allow long-term yields to move 0.5 percent in both directions.

The major European markets closed slightly higher on Friday despite struggling for direction for much of the day's trading session.

Germany's DAX climbed 0.39 percent, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.15 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.02 percent. The pan European Stoxx 600 ended 0.2 percent down.