The US markets settled mostly higher on Friday with modest gains. Indices failed to hold early gains and trimmed some of their gains. Though, Nasdaq slipped below neutral line. The extended volatility on Wall Street came as traders continued to debate when the markets will reach a bottom following recent weakness. Light trading activity may also have contributed to the volatility, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines following the release of a slew of data earlier in the week. Traders may also have been looking ahead to next week's reports on new home sales, durable goods orders, and personal income and spending as well as the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.
On the sectoral front, computer hardware stocks climbed well off their worst levels but still ended the day notably lower, resulting in a 2.9 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. Significant weakness also remained visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.4 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Airline Index. On the other hand, pharmaceutical stocks moved sharply higher on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index up by 2 percent. Healthcare stocks also turned in a strong performance, with the Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index climbing by 1.2 percent.
Dow Jones Industrial Average added 8.77 points or 0.03 percent to 31,261.90 and S&P 500 was up by 0.57 points or 0.01 percent to 3,901.36, while Nasdaq dropped 33.88 points or 0.30 percent to 11,354.62.
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