Strong corporate earnings push stocks up

Stronger profits from Microsoft, McDonald's and other major U.S. corporations pushed stocks higher Friday. Optimism from Europe helped brighten the mood.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index had a winning week for the first time this month.

"There's been a wrestling match all week long between strong earnings and weak economic data," said Lawrence Creatura, a portfolio manager at Federated Investors, the money-management firm. "At the moment, earnings are winning."

Before the market opened, McDonald's posted better quarterly profits. Microsoft beat analysts' projections with quarterly earnings and revenue, and sales in its Windows division were surprisingly strong.

And General Electric posted a profit of more than $3 billion, helped by orders for locomotives, aircraft engines and other equipment.

The Dow rose 65.16 points to close at 13,029.26. The S&P 500 added 1.61 points to 1,378.53.

After nine straight quarters of growth, earnings for S&P 500 companies were expected to be nearly flat. But eight of every 10 companies that have reported so far, including Coca-Cola and IBM, have beaten estimates.---- AP