NEW YORK, May 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed mixed on Friday as investors meditated on a batch of economic reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 91.64 points, or 0.37 percent, to 24,831.17. The S&P 500 rose 4.65 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,727.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 2.09 points, or 0.03 percent, to 7,402.88.
U.S. import prices increased 0.3 percent in April, below market consensus of 0.5 percent, while prices for U.S. exports rose 0.6 percent in April, beating market estimates of a 0.3 percent gain, the Labor Department reported Friday.
The preliminary reading of the consumer sentiment remained unchanged at 98.8 in May from the April reading, generally in line with market expectations, said the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment on Friday.
Meanwhile, investors were still digesting the country's inflation data for April. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers increased 0.2 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, missing market consensus of 0.3 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.
The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.1 percent in April, below market estimates of a 0.2-percent gain.
Analysts said that the tamed inflation data eased concerns about the pace of the U.S. central bank's tightening strategy.
For the week, all three major indices posted solid gains, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq surging 2.3 percent, 2.4 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. Enditem
