NEW YORK – U.S. stocks rallied on the last day of trading ahead of the Easter holiday weekend after a volatile week.
The Dow Jones industrials index jumped 25 points, or 1.1 percent, to close at 23,103. The S&P 500 closed up 1.4 percent, and Nasdaq closed up 1.6 percent.
Technology stocks, which were big decliners earlier in the week, powered much of the market’s climb Thursday. Apple (AAPL) rose 0.8 percent, while Google (GOOG) was up 2.7 percent. Facebook (FB), which has taken a beating in recent days over privacy concerns rose 4.4 percent.
Acxiom (ACXM) shares tumbled 19 percent after the marketing data firm said it has been informed by Facebook that the social network will stop using third-party data providers like it over the next several months. Acxiom said it doesn’t expect the move to affect its fiscal 2018 guidance, but noted in a release that it “expects its total revenue and profitability to be negatively affected by as much as $25 million” in 2019.
Banks, industrial companies and energy stocks notched solid gains.
Beverage maker Constellation Brands (STZ) jumped 3.4 percent after reporting a solid quarter. PVH (PVH), which owns Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, rose 5.2 percent after its results beat expectations.
“The equity market is ending the week and the quarter on a positive note, and that’s following a quarter that’s been volatile and uniformly lackluster,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “We still look for positive trends as we now move into the second quarter, but we think the pace at which equities move will still be muted.”
