DJI-NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks advanced on Friday and posted their best weekly gains in a month as stronger-than-expected earnings from Amazon.com and Expedia Inc reinforced confidence in corporate performance.
Wall Street managed a fourth day of gains as the strongearnings season outweighed a surprisingly weak reading on first-quarter economic growth. [ID:nCATRFE83Z]
Online retailer Amazon climbed 15.7 percent to $226.85 and contributed half of Nasdaq's gain for the day. An S&P retail index <.RLX> rose 3.5 percent and hit an all-time high. Shares of Expedia, the Web-based travel provider, surged 23.5 percent to close at $40.31, after hitting a new high at $43 on record volume. [ID:nL2E8FQHZE] [ID:nL2E8FQFQF]
Growth in S&P 500 earnings rose to 7.2 percent this week from 3.2 percent at the start of the month, according to Thomson Reuters data. About 73 percent of the companies that have reported so far have beaten expectations.
"So far the numbers have been pretty good, and we're happy about that, but I think we have to wait to where we're done with the earnings season to really make judgments," said David James, senior vice president of James Investment Research in Alpha, Ohio.
"Going forward, the big key for people especially looking at tech is what happens with the dollar. I think the dollar will probably be stronger than people expect on a relative basis. Historically that usually means tech is the sector that gets hit the hardest."
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 23.69 points, or 0.18 percent, at 13,228.31. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 3.38 points, or 0.24 percent, at 1,403.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 18.59 points, or 0.61 percent, at 3,069.20.
NYMEX- NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters) - U.S. crude futures ended higher on Friday, up for the sixth session in a row, on hopes that weaker-than-expected growth data will spur the U.S. Fed to initiate more monetary-easing.
An initial estimate showed the first quarter U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 2.2 percent annual rate, slowing from 3 percent in the fourth quarter. [ID:nCATRFE83Z]
That was below economists' expectations for a 2.5 percent pace, but stronger than the 1.5 percent or less they forecast at the beginning of the quarter.
Trading was light but perked up a bit about an hour before the close of floor trading as traders attempted to test resistance at $105, which was hit just minutes before the close. Prices then receded again.
Oil futures got support from Wall Street, which advanced for a fourth straight day, as stronger earnings from bellwether stocks overshadowed the weaker-than-expected GDP data.
CBOT SOYBEAN-April 27 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures closed higher on Friday on brisk export sales including large sales to China.
* Support also stemmed from firm cash, slow farmer selling, waning crop prospects in South America and expectations for no soy to be posted for delivery against the spot May contract. Monday is first notice day for delivery on the May contract.
* USDA on Friday said exporters had sold 110,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China for 2012/13 delivery and 116,000 tonnes to unknown destinations also for 2012/13 delivery.
* Wetter weather is forecast for most of the U.S. Midwest for the next week to 10-days, which will slow seedings of the 2012 corn and soybean crops. "There is a transition to wet weather, it will definitely slow plantings but it also will add valuable soil moisture. Some areas in the northwest were getting dry," said Andy Karst, meteorologist for World Weather Inc.
* Freezing temperatures in the upper 20s degrees Fahrenheit were noted early on Friday in central Indiana, northwest Ohio and Michigan and another freeze is expected in the eastern Midwest on Sunday. "I don't think there will be any permanent damage. It will burn back vegetation and slow wheat development. After the weekend there should be warmer temperatures," Karst said.
* May is above all key moving averages and the nine-day RSI was at 76.
FCPO- SINGAPORE, April 27 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm oil futures ended slightly higher on Friday as tight soybean supplies from Argentina trumped concerns triggered by a Spanish debt downgrade, with traders awaiting export data on Monday for more clues on price movements.
Palm oil ended the week only 0.1 percent higher compared to a week ago, with investor sentiment caught in a tug of war between tight global oilseed supply due to bad weather in Argentina and concerns about euro zone debt.
"The market is a bit quiet today ahead of the weekend. There is no direction as traders are waiting for developments in the market, plus price movements in CBOT and Dalian soybean oil look insignificant," said a trader with a foreign commodities brokerage in Malaysia.
"The market looks to be rangebound between 3,480 and 3,520 ringgit."
Benchmark July palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange inched up 0.1 percent to close at 3,505 ringgit ($1,151) per tonne.
Traded volumes were thin at 21,059 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to the usual 25,000 lots.
Malaysian palm oil exports for the first 25 days of the month recovered compared to April 1-20, although the numbers were still lower than a month ago.
Traders attributed the improvement to stronger demand from major food buyers China and India as well as the biodiesel industry in Europe, with the focus now shifting to full-month export numbers due on Monday. [PALM/ITS][PALM/SGS]
One of Argentina's biggest grains exchanges cut another million tonnes off its 2011/12 soy crop forecasts on Thursday, citing poor yields, adding to bullishness supporting palm oil prices. [ID:nL2E8FQ95V]
But investor enthusiasm was tempered after Standard & Poor's lowered its credit rating on Spain by two notches to BBB-plus on Thursday, raising new fears about the lingering euro zone debt crisis.[ID:nL2E8FQLDM]
Palm oil will likely head towards 3,397 ringgit after testing support at 3,439 ringgit per tonne, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. [ID:nL3E8FQ29B]
REGIONAL EQUITY- BANGKOK, April 27 (Reuters) - Indonesian shares fell on Friday as investors sold banks on concerns about new bank ownership rules while other markets in the region reversed early gains to end lower amid euro zone debt concerns.
Indonesia's benchmark stock index <.JKSE> ended down 0.39 percent, led by a 1.67 percent drop in the Jakarta Finance Index <.JKFINA>.
Shares in Bank Danamon Indonesia Tbk tumbled 6.4 percent after Indonesia's central bank said it would issue new bank ownership rules next month and then review plans by
Singapore's DBS Group to acquire Indonesia's sixth-largest lender.
The Philippine index <.PSI> fell nearly 1 percent, erasing Thursday's 0.7 percent gain to an all-time high.
