Wall Street rides momentum to fresh record highs
Afp, New York
Wall Street lifted to a second straight day of record highs Friday, riding momentum from a powerful rally in the prior session as investors shook off a weak US retail spending report and a spike in oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue chips climbed 42.76 points (0.31 percent) to 13,904.49 at the closing bell, notching another all-time high and topping 13,900 for the first time ever. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 5.27 points (0.02 percent) to 2,707.00. The broad-market Standard Poor's 500 index gained 4.41 points (0.28 percent) to a preliminary close of 1,552.11, setting another all-time record and topping its intraday high set during the tech boom of 2000. Setting a positive tone was an upbeat earnings report from General Electric, the US conglomerate with an array of businesses that is often viewed as a microcosm of the overall economy. GE said profits rose 10 percent despite losses from subprime mortgages.
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