NEW YORK, March 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks posted solid weekly gains as investors digested a batch of key economic data as well as latest corporate earnings reports.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.6 percent, the S&P 500 added 2.9 percent, and the Nasdaq rallied 3.8 percent.

Business activity grew only slightly in New York State, according to firms responding to the March 2019 Empire State Manufacturing Survey.

The headline general business conditions index fell five points to 3.7, missing analysts' estimates. It is also the lowest level in almost two years.

The new orders index fell five points to 3.0, indicating that orders grew at a slower pace than last month. The shipments index declined three points to 7.7, a level indicating that shipments grew modestly, though representing the lowest reading in more than two years.

The number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week.

In the week ending March 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 229,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 223,000, according to the Labor Department on Thursday.

The four-week moving average was 223,750, a decrease of 2,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 226,250, said the department.

Sales of new homes plunged 6.9 percent to reach a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 607,000 in January, indicating that buyers might have paused purchasing houses during the government shutdown.

The median sales price of new houses sold in January 2019 was 317,200 U.S. dollars. The average sales price was 373,100 dollars.

New orders for manufactured durable goods in January increased 0.9 billion U.S. dollars, or 0.4 percent to 255.3 billion dollars, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.

In a separate report, the department said construction spending jumped 1.3 percent in January, the largest increase since April last year, after a revised 0.8 percent drop in December.

U.S. consumer prices rose for the first time in four months in February.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Labor Department said on Tuesday.

Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 1.5 percent before seasonal adjustment, said the department.

The department said indexes for shelter and food increased, and the gasoline index rose after recent declines to result in the seasonally adjusted all items increase.

The stock market gains for the past week were largely led by tech shares. Broadcom shares led the gains of semiconductors on Friday, rising more than 8 percent to close at 290.29 dollars apiece after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

In the meantime, investors monitored the performance of Dow component Boeing closely for the whole week.

The aircraft manufacturer's stock has been under pressure amid worries over the safety of the 737 MAX airplane, one of its most popular models.

On Sunday, a Boeing 737 Max 8, bound for Nairobi, Kenya, crashed shortly after taking off from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people onboard.

It was the second time in half a year that Boeing's best-selling aircraft had a fatal crash. In October, a Lion Air plane crashed into the sea off the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, killing all 189 people onboard. Enditem

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