Dow, S and P set record highs, log 4-week winning streak

Beijing, May 18 (Xinhua-ANI): U.S. stocks bounced back on Friday to end the week for a fourth straight gain, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S and P 500 closing at all-time highs.

The blue-chip Dow surged 121.18 points, or 0.80 percent, to 15, 354.40 points. The broader S and P 500 soared 15.65 points, or 0.95 percent, to 1,666.12 points. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite leapt 33.73 points, or 0.97 percent, to 3,498.97 points.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.56 percent and the S and P 500 gained 1.98 percent while the Nasdaq was up 1.82 percent.

The U.S. stocks opened higher after JP Morgan sharply lifted its year-end target for the S and P 500 to 1,715 points from its original forecast of 1,580 points.

Though the benchmark index jumped 16.82 percent this year so far, Wall Street seemed uniformly confident about the market performance in the remaining period of 2013. The Dow and the Nasdaq climbed 17.17 percent and 15.88 percent since the beginning of 2013, respectively.

The S and P 500 snapped a four-day winning streak in the previous session as last week's jobless claims data jumped to a six-week high and manufacturing and housing data fell far short of analysts' expectations.

However, the economic data came in better-than-expected Friday, pushing the equity market higher.

U.S. consumer sentiment index in May stood at 83.7, well above market consensus of 78.0, according to a joint survey released by Thomson Reuters and University of Michigan. The reading was the highest level in nearly six years.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board's index of leading indicators in April rose 0.6 percent, also beating a 0.3-percent increase of economists' estimates. The index dropped 0.1 percent in March, following a 0.5-percent gain for each of the previous two months.

The CBOE Volatility Index, considered the fear gauge of Wall Street, fell 4.59 percent to 12.47.

In corporate news, Dell shares edged down 0.22 percent to 13.40 U.S. dollars after the personal computer maker late Thursday reported a dramatic drop of quarterly earnings and better-than- expected revenues.

J.C. Penny shares tumbled 4.15 percent to 18.01 dollars after the American mid-range chain department store reported a bigger- than-expected loss in its first quarter earnings. (Xinhua-ANI)