Investing.com – U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, as investors shrugged off U.S. political turmoil and piled back into equities amid dovish comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard.
In what a subdued day of top-tier economic data release, investors parsed through somewhat dovish comments from St. Louis Federal Reserve President, James Bullard, on Friday.
Bullard suggested the Fed’s policy path of two more rate hikes this year is “overly aggressive” relative to the pace of recent economic growth.
Technology, financials and energy, led the rally, as the latter benefited from a surge in crude futures, which settled above the $50 level for the first time since April.
The rally eased later during the session, after a report from The Washington Post revealed that the investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign identified a current White House officials as a “significant person of interest”.
Meanwhile in corporate news, Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM) closed at $87.22, down 0.40%, despite posting better than expected first quarter earnings on Thursday, which beat on both the top and bottom lines.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 20,804.84, up 0.69%. The S&P 500 closed 0.68% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6083.70, up 0.47%
The ‘Bulls and Bears’ on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers included; Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT) up 2.2%, General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) up 2.1%, while Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) rose 1.9%.
Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) down 0.5%, Merck & Company Inc (NYSE:MRK) down 3.8% and The Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) down 0.1%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.