U.S. stocks edge up after choppy trading

The U.S. stocks edged up on Friday after turbulent trading sessions due to the quarterly " quadruple witching."

There are no economic data scheduled for release on Friday, but trading was choppy because of four different types of futures and options contracts expire in the same day, known as the "quadruple witching."

Friday's modest move came a day after major indexes erased losses in final minutes of trading, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to positive territory again for the year of 2010.

However, market sentiment is still under pressure as the latest batch of internal economic data fell short of expectation, spurring concerns over the strength and sustainability of the U.S. economic recovery.

Investors were also closely watching Europe as European shares rose on Friday for the eighth consecutive day, its longest winning streak in 11 months, boosted by banks as European leaders agreed to publish details of "stress tests" on the financial health of the sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 16.47, or 0.16 percent, to 10,450.64. The Standard &Poor's 500 index climbed 1.47, or 0. 13 percent, to 1,117.51 and the Nasdaq rose 2.64, or 0.11 percent, to 2,309.80.

Source: Xinhua