Stocks End Choppy Session Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Stocks turned in a second straight lackluster performance on Friday before ending the session modestly higher.

Positive news on U.S. consumer spending failed to inspire much interest in equities. A promise from Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that his government will make significant infrastructure investments also gave stocks a modest boost.

The major averages all ended the day in the green, as the Dow rose 58.83 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,323.06. The S&P 500 advanced 8.57 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,857.61. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 4.53 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,155.56

S&P 500 lost 0.5 percent for the week, the Nasdaq ended with a weekly drop of 2.8 percent, and the Dow was basically unchanged.

The Nasdaq iShares' Biotechnology Index was down 6.3 percent this week amid concerns over valuations.

Biotech stocks were hammered yet again on Friday, but energy and industrials posted modest gains.

Wal-Mart (WMT) has filed a lawsuit against Visa. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the retailing giant claims that the card network charged unreasonably high fees for customers to use credit or debit cards. WMT shares were slightly lower.

General Motors (GM) has halted the sale of about a third of the Chevrolet Cruzes now on dealer lots, for undisclosed reasons. GM stock edged up 0.6 percent.

Tesla Motors (TSLA) rose 2.4 percent after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had closed its investigation into fire accidents in the Model S vehicles.

Smartphone maker BlackBerry (BBRY) reported a loss for its most recent quarter, compared to a profit in the same period last year. Results included several one-time charges and the loss was not as steep as analysts had projected. Shares fell 7 percent.

CBS's (CBS) outdoor advertising subsidiary, CBS Outdoor America, priced its initial public offering of 20 million shares at $28 per share. The shares, trading under CBSO, rose to $29.50 on day one.

European stocks ended a strong week on another positive note Friday.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks jumped 1.17 percent, for a weekly gain 2.45 percent.

Asian stocks finished the day broadly higher, notwithstanding a lackluster lead from Wall Street overnight. Media reports that China would fast-track infrastructure spending helped encourage buying.

Japanese shares hit two-week highs on window dressing activities as the fiscal year draws closer. The benchmark Nikkei average rose half a percent to 14,696, its highest level since March 13.

In economic news from the U.S., income and spending continued to rise in February, according to new government data.

The U.S. Department of Commerce said personal income rose by 0.3 percent in February. This followed an increase of 0.3 percent in the previous month.

Spending also showed a modest increase for the month. The government's figures showed a 0.3 percent rise in February. January's spending growth was revised to 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, consumer inflation figures remained tame in the latest statistics.

Anemic inflation will keep the central bank from raising its benchmark interest rate until the second half of 2015, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans told the Credit Suisse investment conference in Hong Kong.