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Dow ends week at all-time high

Wall Street's record-breaking run in the past week has propelled the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 13,000 for the first time as strong corporate profits have overshadowed weak economic news.

Yet some analysts argue that the extraordinary gains will lead to a pullback soon.

The Dow index of 30 blue chips closed Friday at an all-time high of 13,120.94, marking a weekly surge of 1.23 percent.

The broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index meanwhile rose 0.65 percent to end the week at 1,494.07 points, edging closer to its all-time high of 1,527.46 of March 2000. The tech-heavy NASDAQ composite spiked 1.22 percent for the week to 2,557.21.

Some analysts say a pullback is inevitable after the recent spike, but that any correction will be limited.

"Investors are resetting their outlook on the upside and scrambling to put money to work in the market. We expect this process to continue until earnings season begins to wind down in three weeks," said Frederic Dickson, an analyst at DA Davidson & Co.

Some of the pullback is likely to be initiated by investors indulging in a bout of profit-taking following the heady run up in stock values in the past week.

The gains were boosted by some bumper corporate earnings, such as those from oil giant Exxon-Mobil which reported better-than-expected quarterly profits of US$9.28 billion.

However, the stock market is also sailing into a week in which it will be buffeted by a flurry of economic news and monthly sales updates from the major auto manufacturers.

Investors will gain fresh updates on consumer spending, inflation, factory orders and the job market among other reports.

Nonfarm payroll hiring is expected to have declined to 100,000 positions in April from 180,000 in March, while the US unemployment rate is expected to tick up a notch to 4.5 percent.

Bond prices fell over the past week as investors moved into stocks.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond edged up to 4.698 percent from 4.672 percent a week earlier while the 30-year bond yield increased to 4.885 percent from 4.845 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
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