US stocks close higher amid earnings, data

New York, Oct 14 : US stocks closed higher as investors digested third quarter earnings reports and major economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday added 30.71 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 22,871.72, Xinhua news agency reported.

The S&P 500 was up 2.24 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 2,553.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 14.29 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 6,605.80, notching record close.

Bank of America reported third-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations despite a slowdown in its fixed-income trading business.

Meanwhile, shares of Wells Fargo plunged nearly three percent after the bank reported third quarter revenue that missed expectations on Friday.

The banking giant reported quarterly revenue of $21.9 billion, down two percent on a year-over-year basis.

On the economic front, the Labor Department said on Friday its Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 0.5 per cent in September on a seasonally adjusted basis. Over the last 12 months, the all items index rose 2.2 per cent.

The consumer sentiment index, a survey of consumers by the University of Michigan, jumped to 101.1 in October, far exceeding economists' expectation of 95.

US retail sales were lower than expected in September but recovered from the prior month's 0.2 per cent slide.

The Commerce Department said on Friday the advance estimates of US retail and food services sales for September 2017, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $483.9 billion, an increase of 1.6 per cent from the previous month, and 4.4 per cent above September 2016.