NEW YORK — Stocks edged higher Friday as remarks from Caterpillar Inc. bolstered investors’ confidence in Asia’s economy, though lingering worries about Europe kept the rally in check.
The euro weakened and gold futures closed at a record high for a second day as some investors continued to look for safe havens.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 16.47 points, or 0.2 percent, to 10,450.64, up 2.3 percent for the week. Caterpillar was among the measure’s top performers on Friday, up 1.4 percent, after the industrial giant posted a 38 percent year- over-year jump in machine sales in Asia for May.
That encouraged optimism about Asia, and China, where efforts to put the brakes on growth have prompted worries about demand.
However, the Caterpillar report wasn’t as upbeat about Europe. Some traders were also nervous that Group of 20 leaders scheduled to meet in Canada next weekend may end up squabbling about whether China should allow its currency to appreciate versus the euro and the U.S. dollar.
Officials in the U.S. and Europe have previously accused China of seeking an unfair trade advantage by undervaluing its currency to make Chinese exports cheaper in other countries.
Despite declining, the euro posted its strongest weekly gain since September, solidly above its 10-year moving average after successful euro-zone debt auctions soothed some anxiety.
Traders and analysts said that several events this week, including a successful offering of Spanish debt, have ratcheted worries down about Europe’s credit crisis compared with a few weeks ago. But the region’s financial health is still something that participants are keeping a close eye on.
“People are taking a week-by-week view of the markets right now rather than saying everything is OK and let’s move on,” said strategist Peter Boockvar of Miller Tabak.
The Nasdaq composite index and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged up 0.1 percent each. The latter’s health care sector weighed on the broad index, although the energy and materials sectors climbed.
