Investors eked out Wall Street’s fifth-straight day of gains Friday, bucking concerns about lagging consumer sentiment and disappointing second-quarter results from Dell Inc., the Associated Press reports.
Trading got off to a shaky start after the University of Michigan released its preliminary consumer sentiment index, which fell to 78.7 in August, down from 84.7 a month earlier. Wall Street had been looking for the index to slide to 83.8, and the greater-than-expected drop was viewed as a signal the economy may weaken too much.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 46.51, or 0.41 percent, to 11,381.47. Broader stock indicators also made modest gains. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 4.82, or 0.37 percent, to 1,302.30, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 6.34, or 0.29 percent, to 2,163.95.
Read the full Associated Press story
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Today’s Winners & Losers
99 Cents Only gained 7 percent to close at $11.60 while Impco Technoloies went 7 percent in the other direction, dropping 57 cents to close the week out at $7.56.