Major US stock indexes finished trading with a moderate increase, mainly driven by the growth of shares in the industrial goods and basic goods sectors.

Meanwhile, the main topic on the market was still the situation around the memo of the former FBI head James Komi, in which he reported on the request of US President Donald Trump to stop the federal investigation into the connections between his former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Russia. Investors are concerned about the fact that the political scandal in Washington can prevent Trump from realizing his election promises, including the tax reform.

The cost of oil jumped by 2% on Friday, and headed for a second weekly increase in a row. The market is supported by the expectation that large oil exporters will nevertheless extend their agreement to reduce oil production in order to curb the constant oversaturation of oil reserves. Since the beginning of March, the price of Brent crude oil has dropped from more than $ 56 to less than $ 47, as investors' opinions ranged over whether the reduction in output by oil exporting countries and other producers compensates for the growth in production by the US.

Most components of the DOW index finished trading in positive territory (25 out of 30). Most fell shares of Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO, -0.48%). Caterpillar Inc. was the growth leader. (CAT, +2.13%).

All sectors of the S & P index recorded an increase. The leader of growth was the sector of basic materials (+1.6%).

At closing:

Dow + 0.69% 20,804.84 +141.82

Nasdaq + 0.47% 6.083.70 +28.57

S & P + 0.68% 2,381.73 +16.01

U.S. stock-index futures rose as investors' concerns over political uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump's presidency eased.

Stocks:

Nikkei 19,590.76 +36.90 +0.19%

Hang Seng 25,174.87 +38.35 +0.15%

Shanghai 3,090.93 +0.7896 +0.03%

S&P/ASX 5,727.41 -10.90 -0.19%

FTSE 7,462.50 +26.08 +0.35%

CAC 5,316.93 +27.20 +0.51%

DAX 12,618.57 +28.51 +0.23%

Crude $49.96 (+1.24%)

Gold $1,253.60 (+0.06%)

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

HP (HPQ) target raised to $20 from $18 at RBC Capital Mkts

IBM (IBM) initiated with a Sector Weight at Pacific Crest; target $152

Wal-Mart (WMT) upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at BMO Capital Markets

Deere (DE) reported Q2 FY 2017 earnings of $2.14 per share (versus $1.56 in Q2 FY 2016), beating analysts' consensus estimate of $1.69.

The company's quarterly revenues amounted to $7.260 bln (+2.2% y/y), generally in-line with analysts' consensus estimate of $7.267 bln.

The company also issued upside guidance for Q3 and 2017 full year. It forecast Q3 revenues at ~$6.92 bln, up 18% y/y (versus analysts' consensus estimate of $6.24 bln). For FY 2017, it raises revenues expectations to +9% to ~$25.5 bln from +4% (versus analysts' consensus estimate of $24.16 bln) and increased net income projection to $2 bln from $1.5 bln.

DE rose to $120.45 (+6.91%) in pre-market trading.

European stocks dropped Thursday, retreating for a second session as continuing U.S. political turmoil cast doubt on whether President Donald Trump's pro-economic growth policies will become reality.

U.S. stocks closed higher Thursday, following the previous session's brutal selloff, as positive data offered a glimmer of optimism and technology provided an additional fillip to the market.

Stock markets were mostly steady in the Asia-Pacific region on Friday following strong rebounds off session lows a day earlier and overnight gains on Wall Street. Investors continue to take a wait-and-see approach amid the week's developments, which were centered on U.S. politics but also included troubles in Brazil after asset prices there plunged on Thursday amid a scandal involving that country's president.

(index / closing price / change items /% change)

Nikkei -261.02 19553.86 -1.32%

TOPIX -20.81 1555.01 -1.32%

Hang Seng -157.11 25136.52 -0.62%

CSI 300 -11.86 3398.11 -0.35%

Euro Stoxx 50 -22.61 3562.22 -0.63%

FTSE 100 -67.05 7436.42 -0.89%

DAX -41.55 12590.06 -0.33%

CAC 40 -28.16 5289.73 -0.53%

DJIA +56.09 20663.02 +0.27%

S&P 500 +8.69 2365.72 +0.37%

NASDAQ +43.89 6055.13 +0.73%

S&P/TSX +3.52 15277.20 +0.02%