2010 Starts off with Modest Gains

U.S. stocks ended the first week of the year with decent gains as investors appeared to shrug off the worst news contained in the December payrolls report. Looking ahead to earnings probably didn't hurt, either, since U.S. corporations are expected to show profit increases for the first time since the second quarter of 2007. Revenue is expected to rise, too, according to Thomson Reuters.

Profit at large U.S. companies is expected to rise 184% in the period and break a string of nine quarters of profit declines. A lot of that rise will be thanks to a big jump in financial profits. Without them, overall profit at Standard & Poor's 500 corporations is expected to increase by 8%. Revenue among S&P companies is forecast to climb 7%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 11.33 points or 0.1% to close at 10,618.19 on Friday. The Dow spent most of the day in the red, but its rise on the day gave the blue chip index a 1.8% gain for the week. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) rose 3.29 points or 0.3% to close at 1,144.98 on Friday. For the week the benchmark index was up 2.7%. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.COMP) rose 17.12 points or 0.7% on Friday to close at 2,317.17, a gain of 2.1% for the week.

By Marketwatch