NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday after a robust session as investors digested a slew of economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 86.52 points, or 0.32 percent, to 26,743.50. The S&P 500 fell 1.08 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,929.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 41.28 points, or 0.51 percent, to 7,986.96.
The Dow's gains were underpinned by rallying McDonald's and Boeing stocks. Shares of the companies rose 2.80 percent and 1.30 percent respectively at the close. Telecom led the gainers of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors, while financials traded 0.36 percent lower, leading the laggards. Some of the major U.S. tech stocks fell, weighing on the Nasdaq.
Investors braced for an S&P 500 sector reshuffling after Friday's close. Among the biggest changes, Facebook and Google-parent Alphabet will move out of tech into the telecommunication services sector. The sector will be renamed as communication services starting Monday.
On economic data, the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) registered at 55.6 in September, up from 54.7 in August, according to report released by the data provider on Friday.
Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted IHS Markit Flash U.S. Services PMI Business Activity Index dropped to 52.9 in September from 54.8 in August, to signal the weakest expansion of service sector output since March 2017. Enditem
