Stocks: Best 3-month run since '07
Wall Street ends May with solid gains as stocks stage late-session rally at the end of a rocky day. Dow gains 97 points; S&P, Nasdaq up over 1%.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks ended a choppy session higher Friday after a late-session rally pushed the major indexes to their biggest three-month run since 2007.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) rose 97 points, or 1.1%, according to early tallies. The broader S&P 500 (SPX) gained 12 points, or 1.3%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) advanced by 12 points, or 1.3%.
Friday's advance caps an upbeat week for Wall Street. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 4.6% over the last 5 trading days. The S&P 500 rose 3.4% and the Dow gained 2.5%.
For the month, the Dow jumped 3.8%, while the S&P 500 rose 5.2% and the Nasdaq advanced 3.6%. May's gains mark the first time stocks have risen for three consecutive months since October 2007.
Stocks had seesawed for most of the session but began to move higher in the last hour of trade, with blue-chip stocks like IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) and Coca Cola Inc. (KO, Fortune 500) leading advancers on the Dow.
Strong oil prices lifted energy shares, which helped prop up the broader market.
"On the upside, the market was propelled by higher oil prices lifting the energy sector," said Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist at The Hartford. But gains were limited by "the dollar weakening and pressure in the bond market," she added.
Rising oil prices have helped lift the markets in recent days. Oil prices have jumped around 30% this month, marking the largest monthly rise since March 1999. Crude closed above $66 a barrel as the dollar fell to a 5-month low. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slid to 3.46% as its price ticked up.
Stocks rose Thursday after a government debt auction elicited solid demand, tempering fears that borrowing costs would rise. The major gauges all added about 1%.
Meanwhile, Monday brings a new month and a new week. The old adage "sell in May and go away" may be just that...an adage. Stocks do not, in fact, always fare so poorly in the summer months that 'going away' is a good idea. (Full story)
Economy: The government said first-quarter gross domestic product fell at a revised annual rate of 5.7%, narrower than the originally reported 6.1%. Economists expected the revision to result in a 5.5% rate of decline.
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