U.S. stocks close higher ahead of holiday weekend

U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, capping off a volatile trading week ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 294.04 points, or 0.58 percent, to finish at a new record of 50,579.70. The Standard and Poor's 500 added 27.75 points, or 0.37 percent, to 7,473.47, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 50.87 points, or 0.19 percent, to 26,343.97.

Nine of the 11 primary Standard and Poor's 500 sectors finished the session in positive territory. Healthcare and utilities climbed 1.19 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. On the other hand, communication services and consumer staples paced the laggards, dropping 0.68 percent and 0.09 percent, respectively.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note shed nearly three basis points to settle around 4.56 percent on Friday afternoon, while the 30-year bond yield lost more than four basis points to trade near 5.06 percent.

U.S. consumer sentiment fell for the third straight month in May as supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz continued to drive up gasoline prices.

The U.S. Consumer Sentiment Index released Friday by the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers fell to 44.8 in the May 2026 survey, down from 49.8 in April and below last May's 52.2.

In corporate news, Estee Lauder soared nearly 12 percent after the cosmetics giant announced it had terminated its pursuit of an acquisition of Spanish beauty group Puig, a decision investors cheered as a capital-preservation victory.

Meanwhile, IMAX shares jumped over 15 percent following reports that the large-format cinema company is actively exploring a potential sale of its business.

Zoom Communications surged more than 9 percent and enterprise software provider Workday advanced over 5 percent after posting strong quarterly results. Off-price apparel retailer Ross Stores gained over 8 percent on robust discount-driven consumer traffic.

Conversely, BJ's Wholesale Club plunged 8.25 percent after warning of tightening margins, while video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software declined 4.42 percent.

The U.S. dollar weakened in late trading on Friday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, fell 0.02 percent to 99.241 at 19:00 GMT.

In late New York trading, the euro was unchanged at 1.1612 dollars from the previous session, while the British pound rose to 1.3446 dollars from 1.3426 dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 159.15 Japanese yen, higher than 159.08 Japanese yen in the previous session. The U.S. dollar lost to 0.7844 Swiss francs from 0.7874 Swiss francs, and it added to 1.3807 Canadian dollars from 1.3783 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar was down to 9.3432 Swedish kronor from 9.3501 Swedish kronor.