Money World economy
The stock market is keeping its momentum going, giving shares their best week in more than two months.
Moderate gains today led by health care and utility stocks pushed major indexes to their best weekly performance since July. A rebound in the dollar weighed on energy and material stocks.
Bond prices tumbled, extending the previous day's losses, as the Treasury market struggled to absorb $71 billion of new supply auctioned off this week in the government's ongoing efforts to fund its stimulus programs.
The stock market's seven-month rally was put firmly back on track this week after two down weeks driven by disappointing economic data. Major stock indicators rose 4% for the week.
Investors have cheered more signs that the economy is healing, including growth in service industries, a surprise profit from aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. and the first gain in retail sales in over a year.
The moderate rise in stocks today comes two years to the day after the market hit its peak. The Dow is still down 30.4% from its high of 14,164.53, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 31.5% from its peak of 1,565.15.
The Dow rose 78.07, or 0.8%, to 9,864.94, its highest close of the year. For the week, the Dow rose 4%, its biggest gain since the week ended July 24. The S&P 500 index rose 4.5%, its best performance since the week ended July 17.
