U.S. stocks closed little changed Friday, as trading volume was light ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. In U.S. economic news, new orders for durable goods rose 3.3 percent in April, following a drop of 5.9 percent in March, according to the Commerce Department. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had predicted a 1.6 percent rise. Despite the rise in orders, shipments of durable goods fell last month, suggesting the rebound in U.S. manufacturing activity is running out of steam. In corporate news, shares of Dow component Procter & Gamble rose after the company ousted chief executive Bob McDonald and replaced him with his predecessor. The company had been under pressure from activist investor Bill Ackman to make the move. Shares of Tesla hit a record high as investors continue to bet the electronic car company founded by Elon Musk is miles ahead of the competition. Facebook shares fell below $25 a share, a level not seen since November. The social network has struggled since its initial public offering as investors worry about Facebook's ability to make money off of mobile users. Shares of two well-known retailers plunged on weak results. Sears Holding and Abercrombie & Fitch sank after reporting larger than expected losses in the most recent quarter. The dollar rose against the pound but fell versus the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for July delivery dropped 10 cents to $94.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures lost $5.20 to $1,386.60 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 8.6, or 0.06 percent, to 15,303.10. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 0.91, or 0.06 percent, to 1,649.60. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 0.28, or 0.01 percent, to 3,459.14.
