USA stocks end quarter mostly up

Tech stocks, which have led the S&P 500's 8-per cent gain this year, pulled back recently as some investors questioned the sector's high valuations. On Wednesday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq posted its best day since November 7. Nike shares gave the biggest boost to the Dow industrials and the S&P 500.

In Europe, shares closed lower and ended June with their biggest monthly loss in a year as worries over tighter monetary conditions soured the mood.

A pullback in biotech shares, which had surged of late, limited the Nasdaq's gains.

For the week, the Nasdaq tumbled by 2 percent, the S&P 500 fell by 0.6 percent and the Dow dipped by 0.2 percent.

Currently, the Nasdaq is up 0.88 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 6,145.23, while the Dow is up 76.96 points or 0.4 percent at 21,363.99 and the S&P 500 is up 5.07 points or 0.2 percent at 2,424.77.

The Commerce Department said personal income climbed by 0.4 percent in May after rising by a downwardly revised 0.3 percent in April.

The remainder of 2017 looks likely to bring more of the same, said Brad McMillan, Chief Investment Officer for Commonwealth Financial Network.

"During a time when it seems like there are still a fair amount of naysayers out there about the economy and GDP, anytime you get some of those stocks showing some strength, it probably emboldens the market", Carlson said. The Nasdaq posted its biggest first-half gain since 2009.

In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department released a report showing that personal income rose by slightly more than anticipated in the month of May, while personal spending inched up in line with estimates.

Shares of the top six US banks rose after the Federal Reserve cleared them in the second part of its annual stress test, allowing them to raise dividend payouts and share buybacks."Part of the reason why tech is down today is the steam in the recent rotation out of some of big tech winners and into banks", said Michael Scanlon, portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management in Boston."The catalyst for that rotation today is the really strong stress test results coupled with higher treasury rates this morning and a positive GDP revision, leading investors to move into financial which has underperformed this year".

Investors have been concerned about recent mixed economic data at a time that the Federal Reserve begins lifting interest rates from very low levels.

Second-quarter corporate results are set to begin in earnest in the coming weeks, with S&P 500 companies expected to post an 8-percent rise in earnings, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

About 6.6 billion shares changed hands in US exchanges, below the 7.3 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.90-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.05-to-1 ratio favored advancers.