US stocks finish week with gains despite Ukraine fears

US stocks finished higher for the week, even as intensifying concerns over Ukraine partially offset positive sentiment from some strong economic reports and accelerating Wall Street deal-making. All three indices posted increases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 151.43 (0.93 per cent) to 16,512.89, while the broad-based S&P 500 advanced 17.74 (0.95%) to 1,881.14. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index notched the biggest increase for the week, adding 48.34 (1.19%) at 4,123.90. The US Federal Reserve, as expected, continued a plan to gradually taper its bond-buying stimulus programme, while maintaining ultra-low interest rates. But the US central bank also released a fairly sunny outlook, saying economic activity ‘has picked up recently.’ The Fed’s remarks helped push the Dow to its first record of 2014 on Wednesday. The Commerce Department on Thursday said gross domestic product grew by a strikingly tiny 0.1% in the first quarter, but markets largely disregarded the figure as backward-looking and skewed by exceptionally cold weather that depressed activity. Wall Street generally smiled on Friday’s US labour report, which showed the economy added 288,000 jobs in April, far above the estimates and marked the fastest job growth in more than two years, according to AFP.