Stocks rose Friday, ending at session highs, as investors shrugged off disappointing economic data and comments by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen suggesting higher interest rates were on the way.
The Nasdaq rose 0.7%, the S&P 500 added 0.4%, and the Dow Jones industrial average edged up 0.3%. Volume fell about 11% on the NYSE and 7% on the Nasdaq compared to Thursday, according to preliminary data. The market is closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.
Yellen said an interest rate hike is possible “in the coming months” amid improved economic growth. Traders put the probability of a rate hike at the Fed's June 15 meeting at 30% and the chance of an increase at the July meeting at 62%, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
Also Friday, Q1 GDP was revised upward to 0.8% -- less than expected -- and the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment gauge for May also fell short of Wall Street’s consensus estimate.
Retail stocks once again outperformed in the stock market today.
Discount retailer Big Lots (BIG) jumped 14% to a new high in heavy volume after announcing that profit for the fiscal first quarter ended in April jumped 34% from a year earlier to 82 cents a share, well above Wall Street estimates. Revenue rose 3% to $1.3 billion, also well above views.
The stock rocketed back above a 46.23 buy point in massive volume, just nine days after it triggered a sell signal by sinking 8% below the entry.
Big Lots is the latest discount retailer to spike to new highs following a strong earnings reports. Dollar General (DG) and Dollar Tree (DLTR) continued to rise Friday following earnings-inspired breakouts Thursday.
FEI (FEIC) led the S&P 500, jumping 14%, after Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO) said it would buy the maker of electron microscopes for $4.2 billion.
Zoes Kitchen (ZOES), Medtronic (MDT), YY (YY) and Workday (WDAY) are among companies due to report quarterly earnings on Tuesday.
