New YorkDennis Seid 4/24/09

Wall Street finds little

stress in 'stress tests'

n NEW YORK - Investors set aside some of their worries about banks and the economy Friday after the government unveiled its methods for testing the health of banks. The Federal Reserve report was light on details, but didn't bring any bad news. Investors were also pleased about quarterly results from Ford Motor Co., American Express Co. and Microsoft Corp.

The Dow rose 119.23, or 1.5 percent, to 8,076.29, after rising by as many as 170 points. The Standard amp& Poor's 500 index rose 14.31, or 1.7 percent, to 866.23, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 42.08, or 2.6 percent, to 1,694.29.

For the week, the Dow slipped 0.7 percent, the Samp&P 500 dipped 0.4 percent, and the Nasdaq rose 1.3 percent.

Washington, D.C.

Friday's economic news

better than expected

n Demand for big-ticket manufactured goods and new home sales both were better than expected in March, raising hopes that the long slides in manufacturing and housing are slowly coming to an end.

The Commerce Department said Friday that orders for durable goods dropped 0.8 percent last month, about half the 1.5 percent decline that economists expected. A rise in orders for commercial and military aircraft helped cushion weakness elsewhere.

New home sales fell 0.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 356,000 from an upwardly revised February rate of 358,000, the department said.

Wire reports