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Roundup: U.S. stocks rise amid mixed data

Xinhua, May 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks rose Friday on a rebound in healthcare and technology stocks, amid a mixed bag of economic data from the country.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 183.54 points, or 1.03 percent, to 18,024.06. The S&P 500 was up 22.78 points, or 1.09 percent, to 2,108.29. The Nasdaq increased 63.97 points, or 1.29 percent, to 5,005.39.

The gains in U.S. shares came maid data showing that construction spending fell in March to a six-month low, while ISM data showed manufacturing growth held at its slowest in almost two years in April.

The manufacturing ISM index came out at 51.5 in April, unchanged from the previous month. Construction spending data for March showed a decline of 0.6 percent.

A jump in consumer sentiment in April, however, and robust jobless-claims report suggested the economy was finding some footing.

A majority of the 10 major U.S. S&P indexes were higher ,with the health and tech indexes both snapping 2-day losing streaks. Apple shares were higher. Gilead Sciences' share rose 4.5 percent after its profit soared thanks to sales of its two key hepatitis C drugs.

Expedia stock also gained 7.9 percent after posting better-than- expected first-quarter revenue.

In the week ended April 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 262,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week's revised level, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. The latest reading was the lowest level in 15 years.

U.S. stocks dropped Thursday as a spate of downbeat corporate results and mixed economic data revealed a recent downshift in the U.S. economy.

U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 0.2 percent in the first quarter this year, according to an advanced estimate released by the U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday. The first quarter GDP showed a sharp slowdown from the fourth quarter's 2.2-percent pace and below expectations of 1- percent growth.

In other markets, oil prices fell on Friday as investors took profit following the two-day sharp rise.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery lost 48 cents to settle at 59.15 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for June delivery moved down 32 cents to close at 66.46 dollars a barrel.

The U.S. dollar bounced back from nine-week lows on Friday amid mixed economic data from the country.. In late New York trading, the euro dropped to 1.1192 dollars from 1.1253 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.5133 dollars from 1.5352 dollars in the previous session. The U.S. dollar bought 120.28 Japanese yen, higher than 119.34 yen of the previous session.

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell for a third straight session on Friday as U.S. equities and the dollar bounced back, putting pressure on the precious metal.

The most active gold contract for June delivery lost 7.9 dollars, or 0.67 percent, to settle at 1,174.5 dollars per ounce. Endite