US stocks gain on solid economic data

Wall Street stocks rose Friday, closing the week on a high note following solid US data on wholesale prices and industrial production.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69.15 points or 0.40 percent to 17,477.40.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 8.15 (0.39 percent) to 2,091.54, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 14.68 (0.29 percent) to 5,048.24.

US industrial production increased by a greater-than-expected 0.6 percent in July, while producer prices rose 0.2 percent, according to government data.

Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities, said US stocks have been in a holding pattern amid mixed signs on the global economy. Friday's US data was a "positive," he added.

"Nothing has really changed from the trading range we've been in most of the last few months," he said.

Food services company Sysco jumped 7.4 percent after activist fund Trian disclosed a 7.1 percent stake in the company and said it was in talks with Sysco management on ways to boost profitability and return more cash to shareholders.

Perrigo, a maker of over-the-counter pharma products, rose 1.8 percent after hedge fund Paulson & Co, a large Mylan shareholder, said it supported Mylan's hostile bid to acquire Perrigo. Mylan added 0.3 percent.

Upscale department store Nordstrom shot up 4.3 percent as it lifted its 2015 outlook following 15.3 percent rise in second-quarter earnings to $211 million behind higher sales.

J.C. Penney, another department store chain, bolted 5.6 percent higher after reporting a second-quarter loss of 45 cents per share, a smaller loss than the 48 cents per share projected by analysts. Same store sales rose 4.1 percent.

Applied Materials, which sells manufacturing services and equipment to the semiconductor and solar industries, fell 2.4 percent as it projected earnings in the current quarter of 27-31 cents per share, below the 33 cents expected by analysts.

King Digital Entertainment, creator the "Candy Crush" video game, slumped 11.0 percent as net income for the quarter ending June 30 fell 27.9 percent to $119.3 million.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose 2.20 percent from 2.18 percent Thursday, while the 30-year slipped to 2.84 percent from 2.86 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.