US stocks reversed early losses to end the week on a high note Friday, shrugging off dull news from Europe and a downbeat picture of US home sales.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 34.59 points (0.27 percent) at 13,080.73.
The broad-market S&P 500 gained 4.33 points (0.31 percent) to 1,397.11, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite added 4.60 (0.15 percent) to 3,067.92.
The markets started lower after the Commerce Department released data showing new-home sales fell for the second month straight in February.
But stocks rebounded in the afternoon as economists argued the monthly housing data masked an improvement in the sector.
"The pullback in February does not fully characterize the underlying trend in housing. We are seeing real improvement in housing and continue to expect modest gains in the coming months," said Wells Fargo Securities.
Trade was marked by glitches at the BATS electronic exchange that forced a momentary halt in trading of shares of Apple, the world's largest company by market capitalization.
Trades that came from the BATS at $542.80 -- when the market price for Apple was nearly $600 -- tripped the automatic volatility "circuit-breaker" that halted trade.
BATS -- which ironically had just launched its own IPO Friday -- blamed a "systems issue" that was later rectified. The exchange though later withdrew its public offering as "appropriate action" following the day's "technical issues".
Apple shares, which were frozen for five minutes, closed the day down 0.6 percent at $596.05.
Banks were strong, with Morgan Stanley jumping 3.8 percent and Bank of American gaining 2.6 percent.
Nike shares were down 3.2 percent as the company's margins appeared pinched despite it beating analyst predictions on earnings for the quarter ended February 29.
That also helped pull down other sports apparel retailers, with K-Swiss losing 4.2 percent.
Hewlett-Packard gained 2.6 percent while rival personal computer maker Dell lost 3.2 percent.
Bond prices climbed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.24 percent from 2.28 percent Thursday, while the 30-year declined to 3.31 percent from 3.36 percent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Source: AFP American Edition
