The US markets ended higher on Friday despite data showing US April retail sales plunged more than forecasts and news the Trump administration will block shipments of semiconductors to China’s Huawei Technologies, stoking fears of renewed trade tensions. The Commerce Department said retail sales fell 16.4 percent in April after tumbling by a revised 8.3 percent in March. Street had expected retail sales to plummet by 12.0 percent compared to the 8.7 percent slump originally reported for the previous month. Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales plunged by an even steeper 17.2 percent in April after falling by a revised 4.0 percent in March. Ex-auto sales were expected to tumble by 8.6 percent compared to the 4.5 percent nosedive originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report from the Federal Reserve showed industrial production plummeted by 11.2 percent in April after tumbling by a revised 4.5 percent in March. Street had expected production to plunge by 11.5 percent compared to the 5.4 percent nosedive originally reported for the previous month. Concerns about the economy may have been offset by a report from the University of Michigan showing an unexpected improvement in consumer sentiment in the month of May. The report said the consumer sentiment index rose to 73.7 in May after plummeting to 71.8 in April. The rebound surprised market participants, who had expected the index to slip to 68.0.
Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60.08 points or 0.25 percent to 23,685.42, Nasdaq gained 70.84 points or 0.79 percent to 9,014.56 and S&P 500 was up by 11.2 points or 0.39 percent to 2,863.7.
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