NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 on Friday closed its strongest first half of the year since 1998 after reaching record highs in May on a rally underpinned by the Federal Reserve's massive monetary stimulus.
On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 114.89 points or 0.76 percent, to end unofficially at 14,909.83. The S&P 500 <.SPX> slipped 6.92 points or 0.43 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,606.28. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 1.38 points or 0.04 percent, to close unofficially at 3,403.25.
The three major U.S. stock indexes ended the month of June in the red, snapping seven-month positive runs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq and a six-month streak on the Dow.
For the quarter, the Dow added 2.27 percent, the S&P 500 gained 2.36 percent and the Nasdaq gained 4.15 percent.
The S&P 500 closed the first half of 2013 up 12.6 percent to score its strongest first six months to a year since 1998. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Jan Paschal)
