Dow, S&P close at record highs
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E-mail Xinhua, May 11, 2013
U.S. stocks managed to finish higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closing at record highs, and wrapped up the week higher for three weeks in a row in the wake of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech.
The Dow inched up 35.87 points, or 0.24 percent, to a record closing high of 15,118.49 points. The S&P 500 was up 7.03 points, or 0.43 percent, to close at an all-time high of 1,633.70 points. The Nasdaq Composite surged 27.41 points, or 0.80 percent, to 3, 436.58 points.
For the week, the Dow rose 0.97 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 1.19 percent while the Nasdaq moved up 1.72 percent.
Bernanke said Friday that the U.S. economy has not yet fully regained jobs lost in the recession and the U.S. financial system still struggles with consequences of the crisis. He made the remarks at a Chicago Fed conference right after Friday's opening bell.
Bernanke also warned that the shadow banking system, which is smaller today than before the crisis, continues to pose a threat to financial stability, and the Fed is moving to a more systemic approach to regulating financial firms.
The Dow and the S&P 500 on Thursday dipped slightly from their record highs as the market took a breather after an extended rally and investors contemplated the market's ability to move even higher.
However, Paul Krugman, a Nobel laureate and renowned economist, wrote Thursday in his column in the New York Times that there is "definitely" no bubble in bonds and "probably" no bubble in stocks.
Overseas, Japanese shares rallied as the U.S. dollar traded above 100 Japanese yen for the first time since April 2009. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average finished up 2.93 percent to its highest closing level since Jan. 4, 2008.
There was no major economic data due out for release in the United States Friday.
The CBOE Volatility Index, considered the fear gauge of Wall Street, fell 4.11 percent to 12.59.
In corporate news, shares of Dell edged up 0.98 percent to 13. 45 dollars after news that billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management, two of Dell's biggest shareholders, are teaming up to bid to acquire the struggling computer maker.
Priceline.com Inc. shares rose 3.78 percent to 765.41 dollars after the business services company reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings and revenue late Thursday.
Tesla Motor shares have posted strong performance since the electric car maker reported upbeat first-quarter earnings on Wednesday. The company's shares jumped 10.61 percent to 76.76 dollars.
In other markets, light, sweet crude for June delivery lost 35 cents, or 0.36 percent to settle at 96.04 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. While Brent for June delivery went down 56 cents, or 0.54 percent to close at 103.91 dollars a barrel.
Gold future for June delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 32 dollars, or 2.18 percent, to settle at 1,436.6 dollars per ounce on a stronger dollar on Friday.
The U.S. dollar advanced against major currencies on Friday and continued rising versus the Japanese yen after broke through the threshold of 100 yen in the previous session.
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