Stock market indexes log third straight week of gains
BY Wire reports
Saturday, January 19, 2013
1/19/13 at 5:15 AM
Better earnings from General Electric helped the stock market inch higher Friday, as major indexes closed out their third straight week of gains.
GE led the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average after the conglomerate reported stronger quarterly earnings, thanks to orders from Brazil, Angola and other developing countries. Profits increased at all seven of GE's segments, including oil and gas, energy management, aviation and transportation. GE climbed 74 cents to $22.04.
The Dow gained 53.68 points to end at 13,649.70; the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.04 points to 1,485.98; while the Nasdaq composite fell 1.30 points to 3,134.70.
This earnings season is off to a good start so far. Of the 67 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported, 43 have trumped analysts' estimates.
So far in 2013, the Dow is up 545.56 points, or 4.2 percent; the S&P 500 is up 59.79, or 4.2 percent; and the Nasdaq is up 115.19, or 3.8 percent.
