NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks finished modestly higher Friday with petroleum-linked stocks posting strong gains, even as worries about earnings cut into gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 35.00 points (0.20 percent) to 17,576.96, about 120 points below its session peak.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 5.69 (0.28 percent) to 2,047.604, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added (0.05 percent) at 4,850.69.
US oil prices surged about 6.6 percent, lifting petroleum producers like Chevron and Anadarko Petroleum, up 1.6 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively.
But the broader market weakened late in the session, likely "due to investors taking some money off the table before earnings season," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standards Financial.
Among Dow components, American Express and Coca-Cola both rose 1.1 percent, while Nike dropped 1.5 percent
Facebook fell 2.7 percent and Tesla Motors lost 2.8 percent.
Gap slumped 13.8 percent after reporting that comparable sales for March fell six percent, including a 14 percent dive in its Banana Republic chain.
Intercept Pharmaceuticals fell 5.0 percent after announcing that a US Food and Drug Administration panel recommended accelerated approval of its Ocaliva treatment for patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. However, Morgan Stanley said the panel failed to endorse use for patients with an aggressive form of the disease, a decision with "important commercial implications."
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