NEW YORK, June 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks advanced in the past week as invest sentiment was lifted by a batch of positive corporate news and economic data.
All three major indices reported solid gains, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose 2.76 percent, 1.62 percent and 1.20 percent, respectively.
The Dow posted its third straight positive session on Friday and closed at 25,316.53, a record high since March. Many of the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 traded in positive territory over the week. The index closed at 2,779.03 on Friday, near three-month closing highs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite also advanced after knocking out back-to-back record closes earlier in the week.
A series of corporate news underpinned the market this week. Shares of Microsoft gained 0.87 percent on Monday after the software giant announced plans to acquire software developer platform GitHub for 7.5 billion U.S. dollars.
Shares of Tesla surged 9.74 percent in late trading on Wednesday after the company revealed it is nearing the Model 3 weekly production rate of 5,000.
Shares of Twitter Inc. also climbed shortly after the social-media platform was reported to join the S&P 500 on Thursday.
Despite Apple's decline on Friday, it was a solid week for Apple and the rest of the technology sector. The overall technology sector gained about 0.7 percent this week. Apple advanced 0.7 percent over the week after it enjoyed a record up of 0.84 percent on Monday.
On the economic data, total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers' sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were 630.2 billion U.S. dollars at the end of April, up 0.1 percent from the revised March level.
The reading was 5.8 percent up from the revised April 2017 level, the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Friday.
U.S. international trade deficit in goods and services decreased to 46.2 billion U.S. dollars in April from a revised 47.2 billion U.S. dollars in March, as exports increased and imports decreased, the Commerce Department reported on Wednesday. The trade deficit was lower than a market consensus of 49 billion U.S. dollars.
The U.S. Institute of Supply Management (ISM) non-manufacturing index reached 58.6 in May, higher than the market consensus of 57.6. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the service sector while a reading below 50 signals contraction.
U.S. nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 0.4 percent during the first quarter of 2018, according to the latest figures from the Labor Department.
On other economic news, the number of U.S. job openings was little changed at 6.7 million on the last business day of April, as compared with the previous month, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
Meanwhile, new orders for U.S.-made goods fell more than expected in April driven by decline in demand for transportation equipment and aircraft. U.S. factory goods orders fell 0.8 percent to 494.4 billion U.S. dollars in April from the previous month, the Commerce Department said on Monday.
The rise in the stock market may be kept in check as uncertainties remain amid tensions between the world's largest economy and its major trade partners, experts noted.
The Group of Seven (G7) summit goes on Friday and Saturday in Quebec of Canada, where trade is expected to top the agenda. U.S. President Donald Trump had imposed import tariffs on steel and aluminum imports last week.
Before the event, Trump fired off tough tweets directed at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Macron and the EU on trade issues, saying he is looking forward to "straightening out unfair Trade Deals" with the G7 countries.
The stance weighed on market sentiment on Friday with a downbeat opening.
