Can the Bulls Keep the Rally Going?
by Sam Collins 07/20/09
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and the Nasdaq (NASD) closed higher Friday, making it the fifth day in a row they were up. And even though the S&P 500 (SPX) was fractionally down, it was the best week in four months for stocks.
On Friday, the Dow got a boost from IBM (IBM), which rose 4.3% after reporting better-than-expected earnings. But General Electric (GE) fell 6.1%, and 17 of the Dow 30 stocks were decliners. For the Dow, the weekly gain snapped a four-week losing streak.
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However, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were hurt by a 2.8% decline in Google (GOOG). After the close on June 16, GOOG reported gains that met expectations, but missed on revenue growth. Google closed lower by 2.79%.
At the close Friday, the Dow was up 32 points to 8,744, the S&P 500 fell less than a point to 940, and the Nasdaq gained 2 points to 940.
The NYSE traded 1.3 billion shares with slightly more decliners than advancers. On the Nasdaq, decliners exceeded advancers by 7-to-5, with 664 million shares trading.
For the week, the Dow was up 7.3%, the S&P 500 gained 7%, and the Nasdaq rose 7.4%.
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