Volatile Week Ends On a High Note
Saturday, July 26, 2008; D03
NEW YORK, July 25 -- Wall Street ended a volatile week with a moderate gain Friday as better-than-expected economic data placated a market pummeled a day earlier.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 21.41, or 0.19 percent, to 11,370.69. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index advanced 5.22, or 0.42 percent, to 1257.76, and the Nasdaq composite index jumped 30.42, or 1.33 percent, to 2310.53.
For the week, the Dow fell 1.09 percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.23 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.22 percent.
The Commerce Department reported that orders sent to factories for big-ticket manufactured goods such as cars, appliances and machinery rose by 0.8 percent in June, the strongest gain in four months and well ahead of Wall Street's expectations.
Another Commerce Department report showed that new-home sales dropped by a smaller-than-expected 0.6 percent. While it marked the seventh decline in the past eight months, it stirred hope that the housing market could be finding a bottom.
And there was good news about consumers, whose reluctance to spend has troubled Wall Street because consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. The Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment for the first part of July came in at 61.2; while economists had forecast a reading of 56.4. The reading was a slight rebound from a 28-year low last month.
Linda Duessel, equity market strategist at Federated Investors, said figures such as the durable-goods numbers are important because they reveal continued demand from abroad, which could help U.S. companies continue to rake in profits even if the economy isn't running at full steam.
Financial stocks drifted lower again Friday on continued worries about the health of banks' balance sheets, while a surge in profit at Juniper Networks lifted technology stocks.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
A barrel of light sweet crude fell $2.23 to settle at $123.26 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Movers
Wachovia fell $1.19, to $14.50.
Juniper Networks gained $4, to $26.57.
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