A report that manufacturing rebounded in June prolonged a weeklong rally in the stock market Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average is on track to have its best week in a year.
The Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index rose to 55.3 from 53.5 in May. The index had its sharpest one-month drop since 1984 in May as a shortage of auto parts from Japan and high gasoline prices cut into spending.
Stock indexes jumped following the report. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 90 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,507 in morning trading. The S&P 500 gained 9, or 0.7 percent, to 1,330. The Nasdaq composite rose 19, or 0.7 percent, to 2,793.
Stock indexes are on pace for their best week since July of last year. The Dow Jones industrial average gained nearly 480 points over the last 4 days.
The weeklong rally began Monday after Nike Inc. reported surprisingly strong quarterly results. That led investors to believe that shoppers are continuing to splurge on sneakers and sportswear despite the recent run-up in gas prices. The Dow added more than 150 points Thursday after Greece cleared its final hurdle before it receives its next round of loans and a report found that manufacturing in the Chicago region picked up unexpectedly.
The for-profit education company Apollo Group rose 7 percent despite a steep drop in students after beating analyst’s profit estimates. Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Red Lobster and the Olive Garden, rose nearly 3 percent after reporting that sales rose at all of its divisions. And Eastman Kodak lost nearly 12 percent after a judge threw out some of its claims in a trade dispute with Apple Inc. and Research in Motion Ltd.
The Dow eked out a small gain for the quarter that ended Thursday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each fell less than 0.4 percent.
No major corporate earnings reports are expected Friday. The next major round of earnings announcements begins July 11 when aluminum-maker Alcoa Inc. releases its results.