US stocks finish higher, scores weekly gains

The major US stock benchmarks closed higher on Friday, after the release of upbeat economic data, which helped Wall Street to score weekly gains.

The US retail sales index rose 1.9% in September, beating forecasts of 0.7%.

The first reading of the University of Michigan's consumer confidence survey rose to the highest level since March at 81.2 points.

US President Donald Trump said that he had informed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin of the necessity to offer more than $1.8 trillion within the second Covid-19 package.

To the oil market, WTI crude November futures at NYMEX fell by 0.2% to close at $40.88 a barrel, posting a weekly gain of 0.7%, after hitting a day high of $41.05 and a low of $40.08.

Brent December futures fell 0.5% to $42.93 a barrel, and gained 0.2% this week, with a high of $43.2 and a low of $42.2.

As for stocks, Dow Jones rose 0.4% or 112 points, to close at 28,606, with a weekly gain of 0.1%, after it hit a day high 28,842 and a low 28,570.

S&P 500 rose less than 0.1% to 3,484, and posted 0.2% gain this week, with a high of 3,515 and a low of 3,480.

While Nasdaq fell 0.4% or 42 points to 11,671 points, and registered weekly gains of 0.8%, with a high of 11,872 and a low of 11,648.