The U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday, with the Dow and S&P 500 posting small weekly gains after a six-week losing streak, as Greek debt problems showed some signs of easing.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 42.84 points, or 0.36 percent, to 12,004.36 and the Standard & Poor's 500 was up 3.86 points, or 0.30 percent, to 1,271.50.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq, however, continued to sink on Friday, losing 7.22 points, or 0.28 percent, to 2,616.48. The index also fell for the fifth straight week.
Wall Street suffered in recent weeks as more and more economic data pointed to a slower recovery. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve's second-round quantitative easing, known as QE2, is set to expire at the end of this month, which also made traders fear the economic recovery was in jeopardy without government stimulus.
However, stocks got some lift this week as the latest data offered some hope that the economy may be improving after hitting a slump in late spring.
Friday's report from the New York-based Conference Board showed the U.S. index of leading economic indicators, a gauge of future economic activities, increased 0.8 percent in May, beating economists' forecast.
The organization said the modest U.S. economic growth, though buffeted by such factors as high gas and food prices and a soft housing market, will still continue at a choppy pace through the summer and fall.
Ahead of that, data released on Thursday also showed fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week and builders broke ground on more homes in May.
Besides, the debt problems in Greece showed positive signs, as France and Germany said they reached an outline agreement to aid the debt-burdened country.
Germany backed down as German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday a new aid program is needed for Greece and the participation of the private sector in it should be voluntary.
Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou replaced his finance minister in an effort to pass austerity measures that are needed to avoid a debt default.
Limiting the market gains, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index fell to a preliminary reading of 71.8 for June, well below expectations.
On other markets, the dollar fell against major currencies and oil prices extended previous losses, settling at about 93 dollars a barrel in New York trading.
