The projected profit growth for 2002 for both companies rose after analysts revised their estimates.
While the NASDAQ fell for the first week in three, investors were heartened that big gains from earlier in the month remained largely intact. The NASDAQ is up 27 percent since April 4.
Investors and traders got several signs that the economic slowdown isn't deepening. The government said Friday that the US economy grew a faster-than-expected 2 percent in the first quarter, while a report on Wednesday showed sales of existing homes rose in March to the second-highest level on record. All three major stock indexes rose on both those days.
The Dow average gained 2.2 percent for the week, as Exxon Mobil Corp and Johnson & Johnson rose. With this month's gains, the Dow is now up 0.2 percent for the year; it is down 15 percent from its January 2000 high.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.8 percent this week and is down 5.1 percent this year.
The gains for the Dow and the S&P 500 in a week when the NASDAQ fell shows that "investors are no longer concentrating in technology," said Stanley Nabi, who helps manage US$800 million at Credit Suisse Asset Management.
Even as the economy slows, Nabi said, many stocks are poised to gain. He has recently purchased shares of defense contractor General Dynamics Corp and cereal maker General Mills Inc.
"I am of the camp that is looking for the economy to continue weakening but not fall off a cliff," Nabi said.
Investors will get more information about the state of the US economy this week, with unemployment data for April due out on Friday.
A report on automobile sales is scheduled for tomorrow.
Analysts said that consumer purchases of cars and other big-ticket items helped boost the gross domestic product in the first quarter even as business spending slowed.



