US stocks close mixed on Friday

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher Friday, while other major benchmarks slipped on concerns about Federal Reserve policy in the face of rising inflation pressures.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 123.69 points, or 0.4%, to close at 34,207.84. The S&P 500 index edged down 3.26 points, or 0.1%, to 4,155.86. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 64.75 points, or 0.5%, to close around 13,470.99.

Helping sentiment Friday was a gauge for U.S. manufacturing activity that surged to a record high this month. The IHS Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index jumped to an all-time high of 61.5 in May from 60.5 in April.

However, housing data was soft. Existing-home sales fell 2.7% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.85 million annual rate, according to the National Association of Realtors.

On the coronavirus front, BioNTech's chief executive reportedly said that the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with U.S. pharmaceutical group Pfizer is likely to be effective against the Indian variant of coronavirus.

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