Stocks gain after days of selling; Investors grow more hopeful about the economy

Stocks push higher after sluggish week

NEW YORK — Investors are shedding some of their caution about the economy.

Stocks rose Friday, following gains in markets overseas and a round of buying on Thursday as better-than-expected economic data suggest the U.S. economy might be on more solid footing than some investors had feared.

Trading volume was heavy because of the occurrence of a quarterly “quadruple witching,” which marks the simultaneous expiration of a number of different options contracts. Stocks are more likely to push higher during such periods, which can also bring jumpy trading.

Traders drew some optimism from European Union leaders who said at a financial summit in Brussels that the current round of economic stimulus measures are cushioning the worst effects of the downturn and that no new ones are needed.

Health care, technology and retail shares led the market higher, while consumer staples and utilities lagged.

Traders are encouraged by recent economic data, including better news on unemployment and an improvement in the Leading Economic Indicators index Thursday, but with the Standard & Poor’s still down 2.2 percent for the week many investors are holding back before restarting a rally that powered the market up as much as 40 percent this spring after hitting a 12-year low in March.

“The mood is overall upbeat but skeptical,” said Janet Engels, director of private client research at RBC Wealth Management in New York.

At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 25.70, or 0.3 percent, to 8,581.30. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 5.07, or 0.6 percent, to 923.44 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 23.65, or 1.3 percent, to 1,831.37.

About three stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a heavy 939.4 million shares, compared with 395.1 million shares traded at the same time Thursday.