NEW YORK, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, as investors digested a batch of mixed third-quarter corporate earnings, including those of Intel and Amazon, as well as the latest U.S. consumer sentiment data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 152.53 points, or 0.57 percent, to 26,958.06. The S&P 500 was up 12.26 points, or 0.41 percent, to 3,022.55. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 57.32 points, or 0.70 percent, to 8,243.12.
Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors traded higher around market close, with the information technology sector up 1.2 percent, leading the winners.
The majority of the 30 blue-chip stocks in the Dow extended gains around the closing bell, with shares of Caterpillar up 4.39 percent, among the best performers.
Shares of Intel rose 8.10 percent, after the company posted quarterly earnings that beat market expectations. It also reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter guidance.
Shares of Amazon fell 1.09 percent, after the e-commerce giant reported quarterly earnings that came well shy of analysts' estimates, among which net income slumped 26 percent year over year.
Investor sentiment was also dampened by the company's fourth-quarter revenue guidance, which was set in the range of 80-86.5 billion U.S. dollars, falling well short of market expectations and pointing to a weak holiday shopping season in store.
So far, over 38 percent of S&P 500 companies have released third-quarter earnings, of which 78 percent reported results above analyst estimates, CNBC quoted FactSet as saying.
On the economic front, the University of Michigan's final sentiment index rose to 95.5 from September's 93.2, the university said Friday in its survey of consumers.
"The multiple sources of uncertainty will keep consumers focused on potential threats to their prevailing optimism, with the most critical being threats that could significantly diminish their job and income prospects," said Richard Curtin, Surveys of Consumers chief economist.
