NEW YORK >> Investors looked past a disappointing retail sales report today, sending stocks moderately higher as they awaited fourth-quarter earnings news to help determine the economy's strength. Stocks higher despite
anemic retail sales
By Hope Yen
Associated Press"The market is going to be choppy for a while," said Barry Berman, head trader for Robert W. Baird & Co. "The market is looking for positive economic news indicating that things are picking up."
"On the other hand, there's a lot of money on the sidelines. People are looking for opportunities to come into the market, so you have a lot of crosscurrents," he said.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 5 to 4 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was light.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 56.64, or 0.6 percent, to close at 8,842.62. Earlier in the day, blue chip stocks fell as much as 39 points.
The broader market also finished higher. The Nasdaq composite index climbed 14.97, or 1 percent, to 1,461.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.40, or 0.6 percent, to 931.66. The Russell 2000 index rose 2.27, or 0.6 percent, to 398.45.
The price of the Treasury's 10-year note was up 5/32 point, while its yield fell to 4.10 percent from 4.12 percent late yesterday. Two-year Treasury notes were up 1/32 point and yielded 1.76 percent, down from 1.79 percent yesterday.
The Commerce Department today reported sales at the nation's retailers rose 1.2 percent in December as shoppers took advantage of incentives and drove up car sales by the largest amount in over a year. That followed a solid 0.9 percent gain in November.
But excluding automobile sales, which can swing widely from month to month, overall retail sales were flat in December, compared with a modest 0.3 percent gain in November.
Analysts said investors' ability to largely shrug off the news signaled a resiliency that bodes well for the market.
A.C. Moore, chief investment strategist for Dunvegan Associates in Santa Barbara, Calif., said often after a big rally such as the one in early January, the market tends to consolidate with sharp gains and losses. But today's movement was more sideways, a positive sign.
"We're experiencing a consolidation at a high level without a (pullback) reaction, which is an indicator of underlying strength," he said.
Alcatel climbed $1.32 to $7.15 after the company raised its fourth-quarter sales outlook. The news lifted other telecom stocks, including Lucent Technologies, which rose 3 cents to $1.84, and Cisco Systems, which gained 30 cents to $15.58.
Chip maker Intel rose 41 cents to $17.79 in advance of its release of quarterly earnings. After the close of market, the company, said fourth-quarter profit rose to $1 billion, or 16 cents a share.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average finished 1 percent higher. In Europe, France's CAC-40 inched up 0.1 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 dipped 0.1 percent and Germany's DAX index gained 1.2 percent.
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