US benchmark equity indexes ended higher Friday as traders analyzed the latest set of economic data.

* US housing starts rose last month as a double-digit percentage gain in multi-family projects helped offset a decline in the single-family component, government data showed.

In the coming quarters, housing starts are expected to drop below 1.3 million units amid factors such as higher building costs due to tariffs, Oxford Economics said. "The risk to our forecast is tilted to the upside if the (US') recent truce on tariffs with China becomes permanent or if tariffs are scaled back further," the firm wrote.

* Consumer sentiment unexpectedly deteriorated in May, hitting the lowest reading in nearly three years, as inflation expectations mounted, according to a survey by the University of Michigan.

"Many survey measures showed some signs of improvement following the temporary reduction of China tariffs, but these initial upticks were too small to alter the overall picture -- consumers continue to express somber views about the economy," said Joanne Hsu, Surveys of Consumers director.

* June West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed up $0.78 to settle at $62.40 per barrel, while July Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $0.78 to $65.31 despite expectations rising supply will swell global inventories.

* 3M (MMM) shares were up 3% as JPMorgan and Mizuho raised their respective price targets on the industrial conglomerate's stock.

* Applied Materials (AMAT) was down 5.3%. The semiconductor equipment maker late Thursday logged fiscal Q2 revenue that trailed Wall Street's estimates.