NEW YORK Oct 14 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks scored their
first back-to-back weekly gains since early July on Friday, on
strong Google earnings and as investors kept riding
the optimism for a solution to the euro zone’s debt crisis.The gains put the Dow industrials and the Nasdaq back into
positive territory for the year, marking a dramatic reversal
from two weeks ago, when the threat of a Greek default and
sour U.S. data had buyers running from the market.”There are these positive catalysts that may be in place
— earnings being one and a more formalized policy action out
of Europe,” said Natalie Trunow, chief investment officer of
equities at Calvert Investment Management in Bethesda,
Maryland, which manages about $14.8 billion.The benchmark S&P index has climbed 14 percent from the
Oct. 4th intraday low of 1,074.77, which had temporarily
tipped it into bear market territory. Now investors are
looking to see if stocks can sustain a move above the
1,215-1,220 area that has been upper end of the market’s range
since early August.For the week, the Dow rose 4.9 percent, while the S&P 500
jumped 6 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 7.6 percent.Google Inc led the Nasdaq higher on Friday as
shares jumped 5.9 percent to $591.68, a day after its results
sailed past Wall Street’s expectations, helped by strong
advertising sales and cost controls.”To the extent earnings come through as expected or better
than expected, which we think is more likely to be the case,
then that will provide sufficient support for the equity
markets,” Trunow said.Next week third-quarter earnings kick into high gear, with
reports coming from Goldman Sachs , Bank of America , Apple Inc and other prominent companies.The Dow Jones industrial average was up 166.36
points, or 1.45 percent, at 11,644.49. The Standard & Poor’s
500 Index was up 20.92 points, or 1.74 percent, at
1,224.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 47.61
points, or 1.82 percent, at 2,667.85.Apple rose 3.3 percent to $422, just below its intraday
lifetime high of $422.86 set on Sept. 20, as the newest
version of its iPhone went on sale across the country.The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX , fell 8 percent to
end at 28.24, and closed lower for the ninth day in a row, a
pattern suggesting more gains could be in store as investors
find less need for protection against losses.”This has only happened four other times in the last 15
years and each time following this decline, the market over
the next two months went up or stayed flat,” wrote Jay
Pestrichelli, co-founder and principal of Zega Financial LLC,
an investment advisory firm specializing in option
strategies.French and German officials are trying to put flesh on the
bones of a crisis resolution plan in time for a European Union
summit on Oct. 23, overshadowing Standard and Poor’s cut of
Spain’s credit rating, a move that underlined the challenges
facing Europe’s finance ministers.Stronger-than-expected retail sales data added to the
upbeat mood Friday.U.S. retail sales rose 1.1 percent in September from a
month earlier, a report showed, beating the median forecast in
a Reuters poll of a 0.7 percent rise. Sales growth during
August was revised upward to 0.3 percent.About 6.6 billion shares were traded on the New York Stock
Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq for the day, well below the
year’s daily average so far of about 8 billion.Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of about 5 to 1, and on the Nasdaq, advancers outpaced
decliners by 3 to 1.
