US: S&P 500 ends up 17% in year's first half, best since 1997

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks advanced on Friday, concluding a banner first half of the year even as a prolonged US-China trade war led to losses on the week.

The broad-based S&P 500 finished the session at 2,941.75, up 0.6 per cent for the day. The index has risen 17.3 per cent so far this year, the best first half of a year since 1997.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent to 26,559.96, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.5 per cent to 8,006.24.

AFP