Investing.com – The rally on Wall Street continued as US stocks notched a weekly gain on Friday despite data showing a surprise dip in retail sales last month tapering expectations of solid third quarter economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 2268.34. The S&P 500 closed 0.18% higher while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6448.47, up 0.30%.
Investors had to contend with a slew of risk-off events that had threatened to derail the rally in U.S. stocks, as geopolitical tensions resurfaced while retail sales growth unexpectedly dipped in August.
North Korea launched a missile that flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean, raising geopolitical uncertainty while increasing safe haven demand. The uptick in safe haven demand was short lived, however, as investors downplayed the potential fallout from North Korea’s latest act of aggression.
“Investors have been programmed to more or less ignore stuff with Korea. The last two or three times this kind of thing occurred we went down a little, only to turn back higher. We’ve learned to buy on the dips,” said Terry Morris, senior vice president and senior equity manager for National Penn Investors Trust Company.
On the economic front, investors mulled over a flurry of reports that did little to raise hopes of solid third-quarter economic growth.
The Commerce Department said on Friday retail sales dipped 0.2% last month, missing expectations of a 0.1% rise.
The soft retail sales data came just hours ahead of manufacturing and consumer sentiment that topped forecasts.
The New York Empire State Manufacturing Survey declined to 24.4 for September from 25.2 previously, although this was significantly above consensus expectations of 19.0.
After hitting seven month highs in August, the consumer sentiment index, a survey of consumers by The University of Michigan, fell to 95.3 in September but handily topped expectations.
The trio of economic reports come just days ahead of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) two-day meeting slated for Sept 19-20, at which members will vote on whether to raise or lower rates.
'Bulls and Bears' on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) up 1.5%, Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ) up 1.4% and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) up 1.4%
Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) down 1%, Visa Inc (NYSE:V) down 0.7% and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) down 0.7%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session.