Wall Street report: Friday close

A NEW jump in consumer confidence helped lift Wall Street to its best week since September, at least by one measure. The Dow Jones Industrial Average overcame profit-taking to close higher by 63.87 points or 0.6% at 10,353.08. The Nasdaq Index brought its weekly gain to roughly 8% by advancing 10.94 points or 0.6% to 1741.38.

The Dow closed up nearly 4% on the week while the S&P 500 posted its strongest weekly gain since markets snapped back following the terrorist attacks in September.

Investors appeared to gather more confidence as the day wore on. Economic data was market-friendly, with the University of Michigan reporting that its consumer confidence index rose to a 17-month high of 96.0 in mid-May, from 93.0 last month.

That was stronger than economists had expected, and indicates consumers are pressing ahead with their buying, a potentially big plus for the economy. Personal consumption, which is two-thirds of the US economy, remained strong throughout the recent recession and is seen as helping bolster the recovery.

Consumer-related shares were mixed. Asda owner Wal-Mart, which has been trading near record highs, surrendered early gains to close down fractionally at $58.22. Do-it-yourself retailer Home Depot climbed $1.04 or 2% to $48.04. General Electric surged $1.40 or 4.4% to $33.40.

But General Motors backed off 41 cents or 0.6% to $65.99 and aluminium company Alcoa was marked down 23 cents or 0.6% to $35.62. Gap Stores, which runs The Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic chains, slid 54 cents or 3.2% to $16.35 after it reported a 68% drop in its quarterly profit.

Media shares ended mixed, after a good week on hopes of a recovery in advertising. News Corp closed off fractionally at $30. AOL Time Warner, which promised its shareholders a brighter future at its annual meeting on Thursday, recovered another $1.22 or 6.5% to $20.12.

Techs showed little follow-through from a rally inspired by an upbeat quarterly report from Dell Computer released after the close on Thursday. Dell rose 10 cents or 0.4% to $27.95, but it was overshadowed by other big names. Intel moved up 43 cents or 1.4% to $31.20 and Cisco Systems gained 24 cents or 1.4% to $17.25.

The pharmaceuticals sector, which has had a woeful time of it lately, was generally stronger. Schering-Plough, which said it was paying the government a record $500m to settle allegations relating to drug manufacturing practices, recovered $1.29 or 5.2% to $26.04. Abbott Labs, which has said that a plant in Illinois failed a government inspection, retrieved $1.88 or 4% to $47.63.