Associated Press Stocks edge higher after Citi, GE earnings beat

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street found enough in the latest earnings reports to keep its six-week rally alive.

Stocks ended another winning week with a slender advance Friday as earnings from Citigroup Inc. and General Electric Co. came in ahead of the market's meager expectations.

The numbers weren't great by normal standards but were good enough to extend a rally that began in early March on signs that the economy might be finding some stability. Citigroup was the fourth bank in a week with news that pointed toward a budding recovery in the industry. But the company, echoing comments from JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Thursday, also said loan losses are expected to continue in the months ahead.

GE, meanwhile, said its first-quarter earnings dropped 36 percent as sales and profits shrank at its GE Capital financial division. The stock edged up 1 percent.

Kent Engelke, chief economic strategist at Capitol Securities Management, said the results placated investors. "If these companies didn't meet or exceed these expectations, we would have gotten killed," he said.

Wall Street showed resilience in the first big week of first-quarter earnings reports, weathering disappointments from chip maker Intel Corp. and Google Inc. While investors weren't happy with Friday's news, they weren't caving to uncertainty as they did the first two months of the year, when heavy selling brought the major indexes to 12-year lows. more...