*

US annual PCE inflation rises 2.7% YoY in April

*

Dell plunges after lower current-quarter profit forecasts

*

Trump Media ( DJT ) falls in choppy trading after Trump conviction

*

Indexes: Dow up 1.51%, S&P 500 up 0.8%, Nasdaq down 0.01%

(Recasts with late rally throughout)

By Abigail Summerville

NEW YORK, May 31 (Reuters) -

The Dow and S&P 500 ended higher on Friday and the Dow

registered its biggest daily percentage gain since November 2023

as month-end repositioning drove a late sharp rally, with all

three major indexes posting strong gains for May.

Almost all of the major S&P 500 sectors ended higher,

with the energy sector up 2.5%. The technology sector

closed slightly in the red.

"We definitely saw a spike in volume toward the end,"

said Joe Saluzzi, co-founder and co-head of Equity Trading at

Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey, noting it was probably

related to month-end repositioning.

Volume on U.S. exchanges totaled 14.60 billion shares,

compared with the 12.56 billion average for the full session

over the last 20 trading days.

The U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price

index increased 0.3% last month, the Commerce Department's

Bureau of Economic Analysis reported, matching the unrevised

gain in March. It also showed consumer spending slowed more than

expected.

"People were pleased that it wasn't hotly surprising but

also underneath the surface, the consumer continues to show a

little bit of strain," said Carol Schleif, chief investment

officer at the BMO family office in Minneapolis.

Traders of futures tied to the Fed policy rate added to

bets of roughly even odds that the central bank will begin to

cut rates in September and boosted the chances of a second rate

cut in December to about the same probability.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose

574.84 points, or 1.51%, to 38,686.32. The S&P 500 gained

42.03 points, or 0.80%, at 5,277.51 and the Nasdaq Composite

lost 2.06 points, or 0.01%, at 16,735.02.

For the month, the S&P 500 rose about 4.8%, the Nasdaq

jumped 6.9% and the Dow climbed 2.4%.

Stocks were down for the week, however, with the S&P 500

and Nasdaq breaking five-week winning streaks. For the week, the

S&P 500 fell about 0.5%, the Nasdaq declined 1.1% and the Dow

fell 0.9%.

On Friday, shares of Dell fell 17.9% after it

forecast current-quarter profit below market estimates and

signaled that higher costs to build servers that meet heavy AI

workloads would dent its annual margins.

Among gainers, Zscaler ( ZS ) jumped 8.5% after the security

solutions provider forecast fourth-quarter results above

estimates.

Gap surged 28.6% after the apparel maker raised its

annual sales forecast and its first-quarter results beat market

expectations, in fresh signs that its turnaround strategy was

starting to work.

Trump Media & Technology Group ( DJT ) fell 5.3% after a New

York jury convicted former President Donald Trump of falsifying

documents to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star ahead

of the 2016 elections.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.94-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and a 1.51-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and six new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 55 new highs and 100 new

lows.