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Wall Street was higher near the close of regular trading on Friday as healthcare and technology stocks rebounded and as data pointed to a pick-up in economic activity.
By the close the Dow Jones had rallied 184 points to 18024.
U.S. economic data
Investors cheered an encouraging batch of data for April that suggested the economy was pulling out of a first-quarter soft patch.
Consumer sentiment climbed and vehicle sales were stronger-than-expected in April while manufacturing expansion in the month held steady at near a two-year low.
Wall Street round-up
() tumbled 19.2 percent to $203.76 after the professional networking company trimmed its annual sales forecast.
Chevron (NYSE:CVX) fell 2 percent to $108.88 after the second-biggest U.S. oil company by market value behind Exxon Mobil reported a 43 percent decline in first-quarter profit due to tumbling oil prices.
Visa (NYSE:V) fell 0.6 percent to $65.70 after the world's largest credit and debit card company said earnings growth will probably be slower than previously thought in the current quarter weakened by continued pressure from lower crude prices and a strong dollar.
Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) jumped 7.8 percent to $101.54 after the online travel company said first-quarter bookings surged. The company’s first-quarter revenue grew a bigger-than-expected 14% amid strong growth at its namesake and Hotels.com brands.
CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) added 0.9 percent to $100.17 after the pharmacy healthcare provider said adjusted earnings for the first quarter came in at $1.14 share beating estimates.
Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) increased 4.7 percent to $105.24 after the research-based biopharmaceutical company reported first quarter profit that exceeded projections.
DreamWorks Animation (NASDAQ:DWA) tumbled 5 percent to $24.74. The movie studio lost 25 cents per share for its latest quarter but that adjusted loss was 20 cents smaller than the Street had expected.
Commodities
Gold for June delivery on Comex fell 0.7% to settle at US$1174.50 an ounce. West Texas Intermediate for June lost 0.8% to US$59.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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