WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the mixed performance seen in the previous
sessions, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day
on Friday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the
unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the day narrowly mixed. While the Dow inched
up 15.57 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 39,150.33, the Nasdaq
dipped 32.23 points or 0.2 percent to 17,689.36 and the S&P 500 dipped 8.55
points or 0.2 percent to 5,464.62.

For the holiday-interrupted week, the Dow jumped by 1.5 percent and the S&P 500
climbed by 0.6 percent, while the Nasdaq was nearly unchanged.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders took a step back to assess
recent activity in the markets, which saw the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reach new
record intraday highs on Thursday before turning lower.

The narrower Dow, on the other hand, saw further upside over the course of
Thursday's trading, and today's uptick lifted the blue chip index to its best
closing level in a month.

Traders also kept an eye on shares of Nvidia (NVDA), as the AI darling has
recently been a key driver of the markets.

Nvidia tumbled by 3.5 percent on Tuesday and by slumped by another 3.2 percent
today after briefly surpassing Microsoft (MSFT) as the world's most valuable
public company on Tuesday.

On the U.S. economic front, The National Association of Realtors released a
report showing existing home sales in the U.S. decreased roughly in line with
economist estimates in the month of May.

The report said existing home sales slid 0.7 percent to an annual rate of 4.11
million in May after tumbling by 1.9 percent to an annual rate of 4.14 million.
Economists had expected existing home sales to drop to a rate of 4.10 million.

The continued decline by existing home sales came as the median existing-home
price reached a record high $419,300 in May, up 5.8 percent from $396,500 a year
ago.

'Home prices reaching new highs are creating a wider divide between those owning
properties and those who wish to be first-time buyers,' said NAR Chief Economist
Lawrence Yun.

'The mortgage payment for a typical home today is more than double that of homes
purchased before 2020,' he added. 'Still, first-time buyers in the market
understand the long-term benefits of owning.'

A separate report released by the Conference Board showed its reading on leading
U.S. economic indicators fell by more than expected in the month of May.

The Conference Board said its leading economic index decreased by 0.5 percent in
May following a 0.6 percent decline in April. Economist had expected the index
to dip by 0.3 percent.

Sector News

Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major
sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.

Gold stocks showed a significant move to the downside, however, resulting in a
1.4 percent decline by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The weakness among gold
stocks came amid a sharp pullback by the price of the precious metal.

Considerable weakness was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected
by the 1.3 loss posted by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

On the other hand, networking stocks showed a strong move to the upside, driving
the NYSE Arca Networking Index up by 1.2 percent.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly
lower during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1
percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index dipped by 0.2 percent, while Hong
Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled by 1.7 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the
French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index declined by 0.5
percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.4 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the
session before closing roughly flat. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark
ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, crept up by less than a basis
point to 4.257 percent.

Looking Ahead

The Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending is likely to be
in focus next week, as it includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by
the Federal Reserve.

Reports on new home sales, consumer confidence, durable goods orders and pending
home sales may also attract attention next week.



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