NEW YORK — The stock market finished the second week of June on a high note, posting gains both for Friday’s session and the week as investors looked past a surprise drop in U.S. retail sales to focus on upbeat consumer sentiment and reduced fear over European debt.
After seesawing during the session, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 38.54 points, or 0.4 percent, to end at 10,211.07.
Gains in shares of Pfizer Inc., up 3.7 percent, and Microsoft Corp., up 2.6 percent, led the way.
Meanwhile, consumer shares weighed, with Home Depot Inc. off 1.5 percent, while Procter & Gamble Co. fell 1.5 percent and Coca-Cola Co. fell 0.7 percent.
The S&P 500 index gained 4.76 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,091.60, led by a 1.2 percent advance in the materials sector and a 1.1 percent rise in technology shares.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 24.89 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,243.60.
For the week, the Dow gained 2.8 percent, the S&P rose 2.5 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 1.1 percent.
The Commerce Department said retail sales fell 1.2 percent in May as consumers slowed their spending on cars, clothing and other goods.
Economists were expecting a 0.2 percent increase. More encouragingly, the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer-sentiment survey rose to 75.5, above the 74 reading expected by economists.
Traders said the latest data about consumers — traditionally a key engine of growth in the U.S. economy — is keeping markets uncertain about global growth.
“People are seeing that the economy isn’t booming, but it’s also not getting worse,” said Malcolm Polly, chief investment officer at Stewart Capital Advisors. “That’s why the confidence numbers are getting a little better. But actual spending still isn’t strong enough where we can say that we’ll get a traditional consumer-led recovery.”
