U.S. stocks close mixed amid economic data

NEW YORK, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday amid a batch of economic data from the country.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 19.01 points, or 0.08 percent, to 25,219.38. The S&P 500 increased 1.02 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,732.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 16.96 points, or 0.23 percent, to 7,239.47.

For Chinese companies listed in the United States, shares of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba lost 2.01 percent to settle at 183.68 U.S. dollars, while shares of another Chinese technology company Baidu dropped 1.40 percent to close at 244.72 U.S. dollars.

The U.S. Commerce Department said on Friday that privately-owned housing starts in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.326 million, 9.7 percent above the revised December estimate of 1.209 million.

The latest reading marked the highest level since October 2016 and beat market expectations.

The University of Michigan's mid-month report on U.S. consumer sentiment showed that the index rose to 99.9 in February, 4.4 percent higher than the previous month and registered as its second-highest level since 2004.

Meanwhile, U.S. import prices increased 1.0 percent in January, above market estimates of 0.6 percent, while prices for U.S. exports rose 0.8 percent in January following a 0.1-percent increase the previous month, the Labor Department said Friday. Enditem