Wall Street Rally Ends Another Week
Wall Street's major indicators rose again Thursday despite the falling dollar and signs of weaker consumer spending.</br></br>Although the weaker dollar raises the possibility of higher inflation, investors saw the U.S. currency's decline as an opportunity to help close the trade deficit, since U.S. goods will be less expensive abroad.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average rose 11.23, or 0.1 percent, to 10,827.12, its highest close since June 13. 2001. Broader stock indicators were modestly higher. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was up 0.56, or 0.05 percent, at 1210.13, the best close for the index since Aug. 3, 2001. The Nasdaq composite index gained 3.59, or 0.17 percent, to 2160.62.</br></br>For the week, the Dow rose 1.66 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.33 percent, and the Nasdaq climbed 1.19 percent. It was the second week of gains for the major indicators, which have risen in five of the past seven weeks.</br></br>A number of technology firms announced their earnings late Wednesday. Memory chip manufacturer Micron Technology's first- quarter profit rose substantially, to 23 cents per share compared with a penny a share in the comparable quarter last year. The company beat Wall Street estimates by a penny per share, but its revenue was lower than expected. Micron lost 8 cents, to $11.80.