Wall Street gains on third straight week

U.S. stocks extended gains on Friday, ahead of a holiday that will keep U.S. markets closed until Tuesday.


The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 73.11 points, or 0.59 percent, to 12391.25, crossing its highest intraday level since June 2008 at 12375.02. The Dow has fallen on only three days in February. The index was up 0.7 percent this week and 4 percent for the month.


The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 2.58 points, or 0.19 percent, to 1,343.01. The index has risen 1 percent this week and 4 percent this month.


The Nasdaq gained 2.37 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,833.95.


As of stocks, the materials stocks, which gets much of its demand from China, fell as China's central bank announced it will raise banks' reserve-requirement ratio by half a percentage point, the second increase this year to withdraw excess liquidity from the economy and curb inflation.


Campbell Soup Co., a leading maker and marketer of soup, fell 5 percent after the company said its profit fell 8 percent in its latest quarter. The company also cut its outlook for the rest of its fiscal year.


Intuit Inc., a provider of financial management, tax and on- line banking solutions, jumped 8 percent after the personal finance software maker raised its forecast for full-year earnings growth late Thursday.


Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, rose 1.5 percent, the best performance among the 30 stocks that make up the Dow index. Pfizer Inc. fell 1 percent, the largest drop.


Meanwhile, officials from countries in the Group of 20 met in Paris on Friday to discuss issues affecting the global economy. In a speech at the conference, U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said that countries with large trade deficits must reduce government spending over time, an obvious reference to the United States.


In the Middle East, Bahraini protesters said security services opened fire on demonstrators as they marched toward the capital's Pearl roundabout. The turmoil there drove crude-oil futures jump above 89 dollars a barrel.


The euro rallied against the dollar, jumping to 1.3706 dollars. U.S. Treasures were mixed, with gains in the two-year note forcing its yield down to 0.76 percent, while lower demand for the 10-year note helped its yield up to 3.59 percent. Gold futures increased.
(Source:http://news.xinhuanet.com)