Gains by General Electric, Starbucks and the world’s biggest video games company, Activision Blizzard, helped Wall Street shrug off disappointing jobs data in choppy trading on Friday.
The S&P 500 spent less than 15 minutes in the red after October’s non-farm payrolls report showed that the US unemployment rate had risen to 10.2 per cent.
However, stocks soon fell again and the S&P turned negative 15 times throughout the day, finally closing 0.3 per cent higher at 1,069.30.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 per cent to 10,023.42 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3 per cent to 2,112.44.
In spite of volatile trading, Wall Street has closed higher every day this week.
A sell-off in the financial sector, both on Monday afternoon and just before the closing bell on Wednesday, weighed on the market but the S&P still managed to cling to positive territory.
Disappointing economic data also failed to shake the confidence of investors who remained focused on the gradual improvement in economic conditions.
Positive results from Cisco on Thursday added to a rally in technology stocks, giving the Nasdaq its biggest daily gain since July.
As a result, Wall Street on Friday recorded its first weekly gain in three weeks. The S&P was up 3.2 per cent on the week, the Dow also gained 3.2 per cent and the Nasdaq climbed 3.3 per cent.
“The unemployment number was pretty scary but we’re seeing two different stories here,” said Dave Rovelli, managing director of trading at Canaccord Adams. “The strong earnings out of Cisco and some more tech earnings today are trumping the unemployment number, so we’re having a rebound. But the question is: when is the unemployment number going to start affecting the big companies? If a lot of people get laid off, they’re going to stop spending.”
The industrials sector outperformed the market throughout the day, led by General Electric shares that rose 6.2 per cent to $15.33 after an upgrade from Bernstein.
A Bernstein upgrade also boosted shares in Amazon, the online retailer, lifting the stock 4.6 per cent to $126.20.
Starbucks also encouraged investors, gaining 7.2 per cent to $21.12 after the coffee chain posted higher-than-expected quarterly profits and raised its outlook for 2010.
The Seattle-based group has struggled to transform itself over the past year in the face of tougher competition, changing its product lines and slashing costs.
Activision Blizzard rose 3.5 per cent to $11.25 after reporting higher quarterly revenue than analysts had been expecting.
The Californian group said strong sales of the “Guitar Hero” game helped to offset an industry-wide decline in video game software sales in the third quarter.
However, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the government-backed mortgage finance agencies, were some of the market’s biggest casualties both on Friday and throughout the week.
After the market’s close on Thursday, Fannie Mae said it would draw another $15bn of funds from the US Treasury after a ninth consecutive quarterly loss drove its net worth below zero. Its shares were down 7.1 per cent at $1.04 on Friday and off 3.7 per cent from last week.
Freddie Mac, which is also backed by the government, was down 1.6 per cent to $1.23.
American International Group also weighed on the market on Friday.
The government-supported insurer reported its second successive quarterly profit after investment losses diminished.
But its shares dropped 9.7 per cent to $35.48 after sales declines at its property-casualty operations, which include coverage of commercial buildings, corporate boards and aircraft, and life insurance divisions
