Wall Street ends week higher, S&P posts new record

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) – Wall Street closed Friday with gains after stocks at major airline companies recovered, and energy firms' shares increased.

The Dow Jones rose 54 points to end the day at 18,571 points. The S&P 500 was up 10 points to 2,175 and the Nasdaq gained 26 points to finish at 5,100.

The S&P marked new all-time record-levels at closing and markets posted a fourth straight weekly gain.

The Dow increased 0.3 percent for the week, the S&P rose 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq jumped 1.4 percent.

Airline giants recovered from losses Thursday and posted gains.

Shares of Southwest Airlines increased 1.4 percent, while American Airlines' shares jumped 4 percent.

Meanwhile, despite the 1 percent decline in oil prices Friday, stocks of American energy firms rose.

Chesapeake Energy increased 8.4 percent and Southwestern Energy Co. rose 9.5 percent.

The stock market will focus next week on the Federal Reserve's decision and statement on interest rates and earnings at major American companies.