After the Commerce Department reported Friday that the consumer spending rose marginally in April and personal income climbed for seven straight months, gave the boost to the retail stocks ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The S&P Retail Index (RLX) was up 0.62 percent to 529.87 points. Among the gainers, teen retailer Rue21 Inc. (Nasdaq: RUE) surged 15.24 percent to $32.96 after it reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit and raised its outlook for the year. Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) was up 0.42 percent to $24.86 after the specialty athletic chain made some organizational changes, including elevating its online business unit to report directly to its President and Chief Executive Ken Hicks.
Tech sector trading in the positive territory, led by Marvell Technology Group Inc. (Nasdaq: MRVL) and Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM) rally on the stock exchange. Shares of Marvell were trading higher by 10.30 percent to $16.06 and shares of Broadcom gained 5.43 percent to $36.53 on Friday. Gains in Marvell and Broadcom helped boost the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) by 1.14 percent to 433.12 points. Shares of NVIDIA Corp. (Nasdaq: NVDA) gained 2.98 percent to $19.38 and Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) added 1.05 percent to $34.68 on Friday.
In the financial sector, Nasdaq led sector to gains Friday. Shares of Nasdaq OMX Group Inc, (Nasdaq: NDAQ) rose 4.10 percent to $25.38 after Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating to buy from hold, following the exchange operator's failed bid to acquire rival NYSE Euronext. Shares of NYSE Euronext gained 0.20 percent to $35.50 a share in the afternoon session of trading. In the broader market, the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF) , which tracks the financial stocks in the S&P 500, rose 1 percent to 15.37 points. Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) gained 0.41 percent to 1,331.12 on Friday.