Stock market news live updates: Stocks advance, J&J shares gain after breakup announcement

Stock market news live updates: Stocks advance, J&J shares gain after breakup announcement

Stocks advanced Friday after a mixed session in the markets, with both earnings and inflation data remaining at the center of investor attention.

The S&P 500 gained, and both the Dow and Nasdaq also closed out Friday's session in the green after a volatile trading week. Shares of Dow component Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) rose after the company said it was planning to break up into two separate companies focused on consumer health products and pharmaceuticals, respectively, in a move echoing a similar breakup announcement by General Electric (GE) earlier this week. 

As of Friday's close, however, the S&P 500 ended the week marginally lower after five straight weeks of gains. But after weeks of advances, it still remained just slightly below all-time highs.