Wall Street recap

Earnings reports give a boost; Dow gains 73

NEW YORK Encouraging earnings news from major retailers and The Walt Disney Co. drew investors back into the stock market to cap a second big week of gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 73 yesterday after falling 94 on Thursday. Major stock indexes rose more than 2 percent for the week.

Upbeat quarterly reports from Disney as well as Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and J.C. Penney Co. offset worries about a slide in consumer confidence.

The market stumbled briefly in morning trading after a report found that the mood of consumers darkened this month. The preliminary Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for November came in at 66.0, down from 70.6 in October.

Stocks rebounded after that report but later pared their gains as the dollar pulled off its lows of the day. The dollar's steady slide since March has pushed stocks and commodities higher on hopes that it would help U.S. exports, which become cheaper overseas with the weak dollar.

Lawrence Creatura, equity market strategist and portfolio manager at Federated Clover Capital Advisors, said investors looked past the consumer-confidence figure to focus on earnings reports because they are a more reliable indicator.

The Dow rose 73.00, or 0.7 percent, to 10,270.47. For the week, the Dow rose 2.5 percent, after jumping 3.2 percent last week. The gains have boosted the Dow's climb for the year to 17 percent after a slump late last month.