Shares Edge Up Again As Investors Stay Upbeat

Stocks edged higher Friday, extending a rally that began nearly two weeks ago, as investors retained their newfound optimism about the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 47 points in light trading. It was the seventh day of gains in the last eight for the index. Treasury prices eased as traders became more willing to assume risk.

Stocks have escaped their August doldrums and moved steadily higher in September, helped by several encouraging economic signals. The latest came Friday morning with a report that wholesale inventories rose in July, a sign of confidence that retail sales will rise.

“It’s becoming more evident that confidence by consumers and the labor market is improving,” said Timothy Speiss, chairman of EisnerAmper’s personal wealth advisers practice. “It’s tepid. It’s weak. But it’s progress.”

The energy sector got a lift from a jump in oil prices. Oil climbed about 2 percent after a pipeline that delivers oil to Midwest refineries was closed. Oil companies like Chevron and Schlumberger rose on the news.

The market’s September rally has paused only once, when concerns resurfaced about European banks. European markets fluctuated Friday after a report that the German banking giant Deutsche Bank was considering a stock sale to raise cash.

Many of the recent improvements in economic indicators have been incremental, but because of the deep pessimism about the economy that set in last month, even faint glimmers of hope on the job market and other parts of the economy like trade have been enough to please investors.

“There’s been so much negativity that it doesn’t take much in terms of data beating expectations to propel the market,” said Hank Smith, the chief investment officer at Haverford Investments.

The Dow rose 47.53 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 10,462.77. It was the highest close since Aug. 10. But it is still only up 0.3 percent this year.

Broader indexes also rose. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose 5.37, or 0.5 percent, to 1,109.55, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.28, or 0.3 percent, to 2,242.48.

About two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume was extremely low at 3.1 billion shares.

Even with their recent gains, most indexes had only modest advances for the week.

The main culprit was a decline Tuesday spurred by worries over European banks. The Dow is up 0.1 percent for the week, the S.& P. is up 0.5 percent, and the Nasdaq is up 0.4 percent.

Bond prices were lower. The Treasury’s benchmark 10-year note fell 9/32, to 98 18/32, and the yield, which moves in the opposite direction of its price, rose to 2.79 percent from 2.76 percent late Thursday.

Oil rose $2.20, or 3 percent, to $76.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Chevron rose $1.46 to $78.82, while Schlumberger Ltd. rose 78 cents to $59.31.