Wall Street stocks wobbled higher on Friday as investors digested mixed economic data and braced for the results next week of "stress tests" on the US banking system.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 44.29 points (0.54 per cent) to finish at 8,212.41.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite ticked up 1.90 points (0.11 per cent) to 1,719.20 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.71 points (0.54 per cent) to 877.52.
Economic reports provided conflicting recovery signals on the sick economy now in its 18th month of recession.
The troubled manufacturing sector contracted in April for a 15th consecutive month, the Institute of Supply Management said, but the pace of decline was less severe than most analysts projected.
The Commerce Department reported that factory orders fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.9 per cent in March, in line with expectations after a surprise February increase that had snapped a six-month decline.
"The data is still mixed and far from anything solid. While the common theme here is still a contraction, it keeps feeling like a slower contraction," said Jon Ogg at 24/7 Wall Street.
Investors were on tenterhooks waiting for authorities to announce the results of "stress tests" on the biggest 19 banks that received public bailouts, now expected next Thursday.
"The timing of the release of bank stress tests may be giving the market some jitters," said Al Goldman at Wachovia Securities.
Bank of America dropped 2.58 per cent to $US8.61, JPMorgan Chase shed 1.55 per cent to $US32.49 and Wells Fargo lost 2.00 per cent at $US19.61.
Citigroup, which is trying to raise capital to pay off $US45 billion ($A62.06 billion) in public aid, fell 2.62 per cent to $US2.97 after announcing a deal to sell its Japanese brokerage Nikko Cordial to Japanese megabank Sumitomo Mitsui which was expected to generate $US2.5 billion ($A3.45 billion) in equity.
Among other stocks in focus, Alcoa added a hefty 6.84 per cent to $US9.69. The aluminum producer said it was to sell to Platinum Equity most of its electricity equipment business, which employs about 17,500 people worldwide, for an undisclosed sum.
The market punished firms with earnings reports including credit card firm Mastercard, down 5.75 per cent at $US172.90, and insurer MetLife, off 7.73 per cent at $US27.45.
Auto stocks were under pressure after dismal April sales reports and Chrysler's appearance at a bankruptcy court hearing in New York a day after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
General Motors skidded 5.73 per cent to $US1.81 and Ford fell 4.85 per cent to $US5.69.
A strong surge in crude prices lifted oil majors. ExxonMobil leapt 2.01 percent to $US68.01 and Chevron rose 1.16 per cent to $US66.87 after reporting a better than expected profit plunge in the first quarter.
"The earnings news continues to be somewhere between awful and really bad for most companies, but above expectations, which has given Wall Street a lift over the last month," Dickson said.
April produced powerful gains, putting the Dow up 7.3 per cent, the Nasdaq a hefty 12.3 per cent and the S&P by 9.4 per cent, marking its best month-over-month rally in more than nine years.
The bond market dipped on Friday. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose to 3.174 per cent from 3.124 per cent on Thursday and that on the 30-year bond advanced to 4.088 per cent from 4.044 per cent. Yields and prices move in opposite directions.
