Stocks Inch Up on Strength Among Retailers

(TheStreet) -- Stocks ventured into positive territory late in Friday's trading session lifted by shares of retailers and conglomerates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 3 points, or 0.03%, to 11,185. The S&P 500 was 2 points, or 0.1% higher, at 1198, and the Nasdaq Composite tacked on 6 points, or 0.2%, to 2520. Strength across the retail, transportation and conglomerate sectors helped stocks turn positive. The Dow was getting the most support from Hewlett-Packard

, General Electric

and Caterpillar

while Walt Disney

, Boeing

and Verizon

weighed. The People's Bank of China ordered banks to increase reserves in an effort to tame inflation. In its second reserve increase in two weeks, China's central bank told lenders to hold back an additional 0.5% of their deposits. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.1% lower while Japan's Nikkei inched 0.09% higher. "The success of QE2 (quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve) is being based on its ability to flood the market with liquidity but increased risk overseas, as we've seen with the situation with Ireland and China's moves largely neutralize the Fed's efforts," said Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist of Channel Capital Research. "When people feel uncertain and nervous about global growth prospects, they're going to take a few chips off of the table."

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