The major averages closed mixed, but well off the lows with the Dow rising over 500  points and the Nasdaq the only major average in the red with profit taking in the tech space even as the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure came in better than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial jumped 574 points getting a lift from UnitedHealth Group. The S&P 500 rose 42 points or 0.8% while the Nasdaq Composite fell just 2 points.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq snapped five-week win streaks with declines of 0.51% and 1.1%, respectively. The blue-chip Dow fell 0.98% the last four trading days, marking a second straight week of losses.

Part of the weakness in tech today was due to a 17% decline in Dell as earnings and AI sales lag estimates. AI stocks Nvidia and AMD were down as well, however May's strength in the major averages could be attributed to a surge in Nvidia, which released blockbuster earnings last week. Nvidia still rose over 20% for the month.

In the retail space, Gap was higher by over 20% on better than expected earnings and guidance. Ulta Beauty was higher as well following earnings. Caesars Entertainment jumped 10% on news Carl Ichan has built a stake in the casino operator.

Oil stocks were higher even as oil drops today. Oil had its worst month of the year ahead of OPEC+ meeting this weekend. U.S. oil fell 5% in May, while global benchmark Brent has fallen 7%.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield is down almost 5 basis points to 4.506% after touching below the key 4.5% level earlier in the day. The 2-year Treasury yield was down by 4 basis points to 4.889% as the closely followed economic data released Friday morning came mostly in line with forecasts. The core personal consumption expenditures price index increased 0.2% in April, the same figure that was anticipated by economists polled by Dow Jones. Core PCE rose 2.8% on an annualized basis, slightly above the 2.7% prediction from economists.

Overall, May was a great month, registering a sixth positive month in seven. The Dow was up 2.3% this month, while the S&P 500 rose 4.8% higher. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 6.8%.