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Dow Has Strongest Two Weeks Since 2000

Published: Friday, 24 Jul 2009 | 5:12 PM ET

Text Size

By: Cindy Perman
CNBC.com Staff Writer

The latest batch of earnings took a toll on the market Friday but the Dow still pulled off a gain in the final half hour of trading, capping its best two-week performance since 2000.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 24 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 9,093.24. At one point, the Dow touched as high as 9,099.74, just shy of 9,100.

Major U.S. Indexes

	Last	Change	% Change	1 Week % Change	YTD % Change
Dow	9093.24	23.95	0.26%	3.99%	3.61%
NASDAQ	1965.96	-7.64	-0.39%	4.21%	24.66%
S&P 500	979.26	2.97	0.30%	4.13%	8.42%
Russell 2000	548.46	2.62	0.48%	5.63%	9.81%
CBOE VIX	23.09	-0.34	-1.45%	-5.14%	-42.28%

This was a landmark week for the Dow: It crossed 9,000 for the first time since January and gained 12 percent in a two-week run, a feat it hasn't achieved since 2000.

The S&P 500 added 0.3 percent today, while the Nasdaq shed 0.4 percent, snapping its 12-day winning streak and longest run since 1992.

Still, gains in the Dow and S&P and minimal damage to the Nasdaq today showed the market's resiliency and ability to rotate into new leadership — healthcare and energy.

Merck [MRK Loading... () ] was the biggest gainer on the Dow, up 2.5 percent, followed by Johnson & Johnson [JNJ Loading... () ] and Pfizer [PFE Loading... () ].

Chevron [CVX Loading... () ] and ExxonMobil [XOM Loading... () ] were also among the Dow gainers. Both companies are reporting earnings next week, along with ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell.

Energy-exploration company Schlumberger [SLB Loading... () ] reported earnings of 68 cents a share that, though representing a 57 percent annualized drop, beat expectations.

FOR INVESTORS

Tech was one of the weakest sectors today — and for the week — after disappointing results from Microsoft and Amazon.

Microsoft [MSFT Loading... () ] shares tumbled 8.3 percent after the software giant reported a sharp drop in revenue.

Amazon [AMZN Loading... () ] also beat but other aspects of its quarterly report disappointed investors. Its stock shed 7.9 percent.

Microsoft was the biggest decliner on both the Dow and the Nasdaq. Amazon was the Nasdaq's second worst performer.

"Microsoft's and Amazon's results make me a little more bearish on the rest of the earnings season," Christopher Zook, chairman and investment chief of CAZ Investments, told Reuters.

"After Intel beat expectations, companies have felt a lot of pressure to post good results or take a positive tone in their earnings call. Microsoft isn't doing that and it's getting killed," Zook said.

Dow component American Express [AXP Loading... () ] beat earnings forecasts but revenue missed estimates. Shares gained 0.2 percent.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Senate lawmakers Friday that he's willing to work with them on overhauling financial regulations but insisted that major changes are necessary.

Speaking at the Senate's risk-regulation hearing, Geithner said the financial system "failed in its most basic responsibility" to supply credit and protect consumers and that cannot happen again.

In economic news, the Reuters/University of Michigan gauge of consumer sentiment dropped to 66 in a final July reading from 64.6 in a mid-July reading and 70.8 at the end of June. Economists had expected the reading to tick up to 65. Measures of expectations for the future and current conditions also declined.

CIT Group [CIT Loading... () ] was still on its rollercoaster ride, with shares ending up 1.4 percent, after soaring nearly 20 percent earlier, after the lender amended a debt restructuring to lure more creditors and intends to keep its restructuring out of the courts. The stock had skidded more than 15 percent on Thursday following buzz that CIT may wind up in bankruptcy protection if it can't attract enough creditors.

Black and Decker [BDK Loading... () ] shares jumped more than 10 percent after the tool maker raised its outlook.

For the week, ten out of ten key S&P sectors were higher, led by materials, which jumped 8 percent. Energy and utilities rounded out the top three as oil gained more than 5% to settle at $68.05 a barrel. Consumer staples were the worst performer, along with financials and technology.

Caterpillar [CAT Loading... () ] had the most positive impact on the Dow, up nearly 24 percent. McDonald's [MCD Loading... () ] had the most negative impact, down over 3 percent.