Dow Jones log back-to-back record close, posts weekly gain

US stock indices rose on Friday, and posted weekly gains while Dow Jones closed at a new record, after the release of upbeat economic data and a drop in the Treasury bond yields.

The data showed yesterday that the US retail sales rose 9.8% during March, beating forecasts of 5.8%, and the core reading showed a rise by 8.4% in March, better than forecasts of 5.1%.

The US unemployment claims fell to 576K during the past week, better than forecasts of 703K. 

The preliminary results from the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers, showed that the index rose to 86.5 points in April, slightly lower than forecasts of 88.9 points.

The 10-year US Treasury bond yields fell below 1.6% today.

Members of the US Federal Reserve stated that the US economy is heading toward a strong jump in growth, which is reflected in the released economic data.

To the oil market, WTI crude May futures fell 0.5% or 33 cents, and closed at $63.13 a barrel, and posted a weekly gain of 6.4%, after hitting a high of $63.8 and a low of $62.8.

Brent June futures fell 0.2% or 17 cents, and closed at $66.77 a barrel, with weekly gains of 6%, after hitting a high of $67.3 and a low of $66.4.

As for stocks, Dow Jones rose 0.5% or 164 points, and closed at 34,200, with a weekly gain of 1.2%, a day high of 34,256, and a low of 34,058.

Nasdaq rose 0.1% or 13 points to 14,052, and registered a 1.1% weekly gain, with a high of 14,062 and a low of 13,977.

S&P 500 rose 0.3% or 15 points to 4,185, and posted a weekly gain of 1.4%, after hitting a high of 4,191 and a low of 4,170.