Marginal gains for US stocks

Investors grapple with weaker-than-expected economic reports

U.S. stocks ended the day's choppy session marginally higher on Friday, 15 May 2015 with the main indexes eking out weekly gains. Investors grappled with weaker-than-expected economic reports which left the timing of the Federal Reserve's next rate hike still uncertain for investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 20.32 points, or 0.1%, to 18,272.56, rising 0.5% over the week. The Nasdaq Composite ended the session 2.5 points lower at 5,048.29, but managed a 0.9% gain over the week. The S&P 500 closed 1.63 points, or 0.1%, higher at 2,122.73, a fresh record. The benchmark index gained 0.3% over the week.

A pair of manufacturing data released ahead of the market open, came in below expectations, underlying the recent trend of weakness poking through in the U.S. economy. The preliminary May reading on consumer sentiment fell to the lowest level in seven month, also well below forecasts.

U.S. stocks have been weaving in and out of losses this week, as investors digested the battered bond markets and a string of mixed data that raised questions about the strength of the U.S. economy. This has spurred speculation the Fed will wait to raise interest rates until later this year, rather than in June, which some market participants had been forecasting.

Among economic data expected for the day, the Empire State manufacturing index moved back into positive territory in May, but only barely and missed forecasts. Industrial production fell a seasonally adjusted 0.3% in April. Revised data from the U.S. central bank showed that this was now the fifth straight decline in output. Meanwhile, consumer sentiment fell to a preliminary May reading of 88.6, a seven-month low, compared with a final April level of 95.9, according to reports on the University of Michigan gauge released on Friday.

Seven sectors registered gains with rate-sensitive utilities holding the lead throughout the session. Meanwhile, influential groups like health care, consumer discretionary, and energy sectors also ended in the green, but their strength was offset by weakness in top-weighted technology and financials as well as the fifth largest group by weightindustrials.

The financial sector ended at the bottom of the leaderboard with regional banks leading the retreat that was fueled by the flattening at the long end of the yield curve.

For its part, technology underperformed after leading the market's rebound from Wednesday's low. Large cap components like Apple, Google, IBM and Microsoft lost between 0.2% and 0.9% with comparable weakness among their peers overshadowing a decent showing from the chipmaker group.

Bullion prices ended higher at Comex on Friday, 15 May 2015. Gold futures turned higher during Friday's final minutes of trading to climb a dime for the session and tally a more than 3% gain for the week. Prices found support from a weaker U.S. dollar as investors assessed the latest economic data and their influence on the metal's investment appeal.

Gold for June delivery tacked on 10 cents to settle at $1,225.30 an ounce on Comex. That was the highest settlement in about 3 months. Prices climbed 3.1% for the week. July silver added 9.8 cents, or 0.6%, to $17.563 an ounce. Prices were 6.7% higher for the week.

Crude prices for the U.S. crude-oil benchmark settled lower on Friday, 15 May 2015 but still tallied a gain for a ninth week in a rowsaid to be the longest weekly streak of gains in at least 30 years. Concerns over a supply glut in the market pressured prices, but weakness in the U.S. dollar and a 23rd straight weekly decline in the number of active U.S. oil rigs helped cut losses.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, June West Texas Intermediate crude lost 19 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $59.69 a barrel.

On Friday, intraday participation was light, but that was masked by options expiration, which brought the final NYSE floor volume up to nearly 813 million shares by the close.

Monday's data will be limited to the 10:00 ET release of the NAHB Housing Market Index for May (consensus 57).

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