NEW YORK, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, with all three major indexes advancing to finish the week on a positive note.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 206.97 points, or 0.47 percent, to finish at 44,175.61. The S&P 500 rose 49.45 points, or 0.78 percent, to 6,389.45, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 207.32 points, or 0.98 percent, to 21,450.02.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with technology and communication services leading the gainers by rising 1.22 percent and 1.21 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, real estate and utilities led the laggards by going down 0.82 percent and 0.45 percent, respectively.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday warned U.S. courts against overturning his tariff policy, which officially took effect at midnight Thursday. Among the steepest new duties are a 41 percent rate on goods from Syria and 40 percent rates on imports from Laos and Myanmar.
Market sentiment improved somewhat as investors viewed newly announced semiconductor tariffs as less severe than initially feared.
"The market's reaction to the April 2 announcement kind of shows how markets feel about tariffs," said Ross Mayfield, a strategist with investment bank Baird. "Investors are largely anticipating the administration not following through on hyper aggressive tariff plans."
Mega-cap technology stocks largely posted gains. Apple jumped 4.24 percent, marking its third consecutive day of strong advances. Alphabet added 2.49 percent, Tesla increased 2.29 percent, while Nvidia and Meta Platforms each gained around 1 percent. Microsoft and Broadcom ended slightly higher, whereas Amazon edged lower.
Looking ahead, investors will turn their attention to fresh inflation data next week as they prepare for the Federal Reserve's annual Jackson Hole symposium in late August. ■
