NEW YORK, June 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed mixed Friday as investors meditated on a batch of downbeat economic reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 24.38 points, or 0.11 percent, to 21,384.28. The S&P 500 edged up 0.69 point, or 0.03 percent, to 2,433.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 13.74 points, or 0.22 percent, to 6,151.76.
U.S. privately-owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,092,000, notching the lowest level in eight months, the Commerce Department reported Friday.
This is 5.5 percent below the revised April estimate of 1,156,000 and 2.4 percent below the May 2016 rate of 1,119,000.
Meanwhile, the preliminary reading of the consumer sentiment dropped from 97.1 in May to 94.5 for June, well below market estimates, said the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment on Friday.
In corporate news, Amazon announced Friday that it plans to acquire Whole Foods Market for 42 U.S. dollars per share, in a deal valued at 13.7 billion dollars.
Shares of Amazon jumped 2.44 percent to 987.71 dollars apiece following the announcement, while shares of the latter spiked 29.10 percent to 42.68 dollars apiece.
Overseas, European equities rallied Friday as investors digested news of more money for Greece. German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange rose 0.48 percent, while British benchmark FTSE 100 Index added 0.60 percent. Enditem
