U.S. stocks closed slightly higher Friday, as investors were cautious ahead of next week's Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting. In U.S. economic news, the University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters said a key measure of consumer sentiment rose to 85.1 in July, the highest level in six years. In international economic news, Japan's inflation turned positive for the first time in a year, signaling that Abenomics is taking hold. In corporate news, Amazon shares were lower after the online retailer posted a surprise loss. Halliburton stock rose nearly 4 percent after the U.S. Justice Department said the oilfield services firm would plead guilty to destroying computer test results that had been sought as evidence in the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Tesla Motors shares gained after Deutsche Bank upgraded the electric car maker. The dollar was lower than the euro, the pound, and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for September delivery dropped 79 cents to $104.70 a barrel. Gold futures fell $7.30 to $1,321.50 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.22, or 0.02 percent, to 15,558.83. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 1.4, or 0.08 percent, to 1,691.65. The Nasdaq composite index moved up 7.98, or 0.22 percent, to 3,613.17.
