US stocks end second quarter with a flourish
Wall Street stocks concluded a winning quarter with a flourish on Friday, cheering better inflation data as Apple surged to a valuation of over US$3 trillion. All three indices spent the entire session in positive territory after the personal consumption expenditures index measure of inflation eased to 3.8 percent year-on-year in May, a significant drop from 4.3 percent a month earlier. The data, which is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve, comes on the heels of other economic reports this week on first-quarter growth and consumer confidence that have added to hopes the US economy can avoid a recession. The broad-based S&P 500 finished at 4,450, up 1.2 percent for the day and more than eight percent for the quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8 percent to 34,407, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.5 percent to 13,787. (AFP)