Wall Street closed higher before a long weekend

Wall Street was higher at the close on Friday, in light trading as investors began the second half of the year ahead of a long weekend.

All three major US stock indexes pared their early losses to end in positive territory following the stock market’s worst first half year in decades.

However, the three indices recorded losses this week.

“Going into the weekend we saw a late recovery,” said Joseph Sroka, chief investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta.

“But we’ll probably have to wait until investors return from the weekend to see if it’s always at the start of the new quarter.”

Market participants are now looking at the second quarter earnings season, the Labor Department’s June employment report, and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting expected later in July.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 321.83 points, or 1.05%, to 31,097.26, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 39.95 points, or 1.06%, to 3,825.33 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 99.11 points, or 0.90%, to 11127.85 points.