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The week in stocks: Street has two winning weeks in a row

COMBINED NEWS REPORTS

April 27, 2008

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The mood on Main Street may be gloomy, but Wall Street is feeling downright sunny. Stocks posted their first back-to-back winning weeks since February despite a report showing the U.S. consumer hasn't been this pessimistic since the early 1980s.

As the week ended, traders shrugged off disappointing earnings news from Microsoft Corp., rising oil prices and the results from the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index. The index fell to its lowest reading in 26 years as Americans contended with rising energy and food prices.

This week promises to be a test for even the most optimistic investor. The Federal Reserve meets Tuesday and Wednesday to decide on interest rates, and the Labor Department Friday will report on the job situation in April. The Fed is expected to lower rates by a slim quarter-percentage point, a move financial markets believe will be the last in the cycle. But the central bank's statement accompanying its rate decision could set markets gyrating if it contains language on inflation or recession investors find unsettling.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed Friday at 12,891.86, a gain of 0.3 percent for the week. The Dow is at its highest point since Jan. 3.

The Nasdaq composite index finished at 2,422.93, up 0.8 percent. The S&P 500 index ended the week at 1,397.84, a rise of 0.5 percent.

Last week's gains pushed the S&P to the highest level since Jan. 14. The benchmark index has climbed 9.8 percent from a 19-month low on March 10. The index has gained 5.7 percent so far in April, and is poised for its first monthly gain since October.

12,937

DOW

12,661

2,447

Nasdaq

2,362

1,399

S&P

1,370

Numbers are week's intrady highs and lows.