A strong week for Wall Street has propelled the main broad-market indicator into positive territory. But analysts are divided on whether the recent run is the start of a summer rally.
In the week to Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.05 percent to 10,623.07 after its seventh straight winning session.
The Standard and Poor's 500, seen as the market's main broad-market indicator, turned positive for the year with a gain of 1.49 percent to 1,216.96.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ index climbed 1.31 percent for the week to close at 2,090.11 on Friday.
The market managed to keep its upward momentum despite mixed economic news, but investors appeared relieved over data early in the week showing inflation in check.
The consumer price index fell 0.1 percent in May, the first decline since July last year. The "core" rate excluding volatile food and energy costs increased a modest 0.1 percent.
Wholesale prices fell 0.6 percent in May while the core index rose 0.1 percent, which still suggests modest inflationary pressures.
"Good news [low inflation] was offset by bad news -- weaker than expected retail activity, and the prospect of future weakness in the manufacturing sector," said Eric Lascelles, economist at TD Bank Financial Group.
But he said "the overall US economic outlook for 2005 remains fairly bright, with robust growth on tap for the rest of the year."
But some analysts said the market was riding momentum more than reacting to economic news, and doubted whether the rally had staying power.
Bonds were slightly lower for the week.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose to 4.078 percent from 4.047 percent a week earlier while that on the 30-year bond climbed to 4.365 percent against 4.299 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
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