U.S. stocks keep rising ahead of long weekend

U.S. stocks extended gains on Friday, the first trading day of the new quarter, as traders shifted their focus from Brexit to the release of a batch of economic data ahead of the long weekend.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 19.38 points, or 0.11 percent, to 17,949.37. The S&P 500 rose 4.09 points, or 0.19 percent, to 2,102.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 19.90 points, or 0.41 percent, to 4,862.57.

On the economic front, the seasonally adjusted Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 51.3 in June, slightly below market consensus of 51.4, but up from 50.7 in May.

Meanwhile, the June purchasing managers' index registered 53.2 percent, an increase of 1.9 percentage points from the May reading of 51.3 percent, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Friday.

"Both ISM and Markit indices suggest manufacturing output growth should resume in the next couple of months, though not yet at a pace likely to support much job growth," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, Friday.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, decreased 5.5 percent to end at 14.77 on Friday.

U.S. stocks market will be closed Monday for the Independence Day holiday.

Markets showed a sign of recovery earlier this week across the globe after a record 3 trillion U.S. dollars in market capitalization was wipe off in the post-Brexit plunge. Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 Index has completely recovered to pre-vote levels Wednesday.

Analysts said fears receded that the stunning referendum results could send global markets on a wild descent.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday, the last trading day of the second quarter, as investors cheered a recovery from the post-Brexit losses.

The Leave camp won Britain's Brexit referendum last week by obtaining nearly 52 percent of ballots, pulling the country out of the 28-nation European Union (EU) after its 43-year membership. Endit