NEW YORK — U.S. stocks shot higher and rose steadily throughout the day to close the week on a high note Friday, as investors scrambling for good news found reassurance in Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s vow to do whatever it takes to revive the shaky economy.
Bernanke’s comments provided few surprises but reassured Wall Street the central bank will act if “unexpected developments” cause the recovery to falter. His words apparently soothed investors during a week packed with disappointing economic data, which was capped Friday with another sluggish reading on second-quarter growth and a third-quarter revenue warning from technology bellwether Intel.
The Dow Jones industrial average vaulted 165.84 points, or 1.7 percent, to finish at 10,150.65. The blue-chip index slumped to below the psychologically important 10,000 level Thursday, which could have provided some motivation behind Friday’s rally. For the week, the Dow lost 0.6 percent.
“There’s a perception here that things are better off than perhaps the market had priced,” said Todd Colvin, vice president of MF Global. “That doesn’t mean we’re coming out of this any faster.”
Bernanke’s remarks helped to assuage nervous investors after the Commerce Department cut its estimate for U.S. GDP growth that again confirmed economic growth slowed to a crawl. Meanwhile, another report indicated consumer confidence in August continued to remain weak.
Investors were also able to move beyond some lackluster corporate news during the session. Intel gained 1.1 percent even after warning that weakening consumer demand for computers will hurt sales during the third quarter.
Boeing rose 3 percent although the airplane manufacturer again delayed production for its 787 Dreamliner jet.
For the week, the S&P 500 was down 0.66 percent, while the Nasdaq was off 1.18 percent.
