NEW YORK, Aug 10: Blue-chip stocks shrugged off early losses to rack up their fourth day of gains on Friday, but technology stocks slid as a sales warning from data storage equipment Emulex Corp reminded investors the profit outlook is still cloudy.

The fundamentals haven’t improved and the tech picture hasn’t improved, said Frederick Sears, a fund manager at Eastern Point Advisors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 33.43 points, or 0.38 per cent, at 8,745.45, according to the latest data. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 3.18 points, or 0.35 percent, at 908.64, while the technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index fell 10.40 points, or 0.79 per cent, to 1,306.12.

Wall Street remains wary about the outlook for profits after a slew of economic data has suggested the much-anticipated economic recovery may be on hold. Trading was quiet, in contrast to heavy trade earlier in the week on hopes that US Federal Reserve will lower interest rates.

For the week, the Dow climbed 5.2 per cent, giving the blue-chip gauge its largest percentage weekly gain since a late-September jump following the Sept. 11 attacks. The S&P 500 gained 5.1 per cent over the previous five trading days.

It was the third-straight winning week for the Dow average and the S&P 500. The Nasdaq rose 4.7 per cent, snapping a five-week losing streak.

A lot of people are taking a break from three days of gains and no one wants to buy before the weekend, said Shuji Igushi, a trader for money management firm Jurika & Voyles. There’s nothing to warrant people jumping in with both feet.’

Advancing stocks edged out decliners by a ratio of 17 to 14 on the New York Stock Exchange, but 9 stocks fell for every 7 that gained Nasdaq. Trading was quieter than in recent sessions, with 1.26 billion shares changing hands on the Big Board and about 1.31 billion traded on Nasdaq.

Stocks have gained, in part, on hopes the Federal Reserve will take another whack at interest rates to lift the economy after 11 cuts last year took rates to their current 40-year lows.

Most economists do not expect the central bank to cut as early as Tuesday’s policy-setting meeting, but Morgan Stanley’s chief US economist bucked the trend, saying he thinks the Fed will lop off 50 basis points next week to thwart a double-dip recession, two periods of recession punctuated by a brief upturn.

The single biggest thing that fueled this week’s rally was speculation the Fed will be more aggressive, and that we could see a cut as early as Tuesday, said Phil Orlando, chief investment officer at Value Line Asset Management, which oversees $6 billion. It is our view that expectation is inappropriate.—Reuters