Stocks ended higher Friday as stronger-than-expected reports on consumer confidence and manufacturing lifted investors’ spirits a day after the Fed raised interest rates and said it would keep to its policy of bumping them up.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 28.47, or 0.3 percent, to 10,303.44. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 3.11, or 0.3 percent, at 1,194.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.41, or 0.02 percent, to 2,057.37.
U.S. consumer sentiment rose in June with easing gasoline prices and a bit of an uptick in the stock market, according to a report by the University of Michigan.
And the U.S. manufacturing sector expanded at a faster-than-expected pace in June as new orders to factories picked up, the Institute for Supply Management reported. Activity at the nation’s factories increased for a 25th consecutive month. The June upturn followed six consecutive months of slowing growth in the sector.
Among local companies, shares of East West Bancorp Inc. gained 6.9 percent to $35.89 after the stock of the San Marino-based holding company for East West Bank was raised to “outperform” from “market perform” by analyst James Abbott at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. The price target was set at $39 per share. The company had announced late Thursday that it bought one of its closest rivals, United National Bank, for $164.7 million.
Teledyne Technologies Inc. rose 1.8 percent to $33.18 after the L.A.-based electronic components and instruments provider announced that its subsidiary, Teledyne Investment Inc., completed the acquisition of Cougar Components Corp. for $26.5 million. Teledyne funded the acquisition from borrowings under its $280 million credit facility arranged with a syndicate of banks.
And Computer Sciences Corp. edged up 1.3 percent to $44.28 after the El Segundo-based IT services firm signed an interim agreement to extend its outsourcing contract with DuPont. The contract extension has a potential value of $1.9 billion.
On the downside, shares of Broadway Financial Corp. fell 4.6 percent to $10.35 after the L.A.-based holding company for Broadway Federal Bank announced late Thursday that Chief Financial Officer Alvin Kang would resign as of July 31 to take a position with another bank.
