US stocks closed modestly higher Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average erasing its losses for the year to date and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes carving out fresh record closes.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 161.60 points, or 0.6 percent, to settle at 28,653.87, which put the blue-chip index in positive territory for the year and pulled it within a few percentage points of the all-time high set in February. Walmart and Coca-Cola led the way for the Dow, rising 2.7% and 3.3%, respectively.
The S&P 500 rose 23.46 points, or 0.7%, to close at 3,508.01. It was the index's first-ever close above 3,500. Tech and energy were the best-performing sectors in the S&P 500, gaining 1.1% and 1.9%, respectively.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced 70.30 points, 0.6%, to 11,695.63.
On the data front, U.S. consumer spending rose 1.9% in July, the Commerce Department said. Personal income was also stronger than expected, rising 0.4%. The final reading of the University of Michigan's August consumer sentiment index came in at 74.1 versus a preliminary reading of 72.8 and up from 72.5 in July.
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