Stocks climb as tough week ends

SAN FRANCISCO – U.S. stocks rose Friday on a round of bargain hunting and a surge in energy shares, curbing what still turned out to be the worst week of the year for two stock benchmarks.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 34.59 points, or 0.3 percent, to 13,080.73. The S&P 500 gained 4.33 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,397.11. The Nasdaq Composite rose 4.60 points, or 0.2 percent, to 3,067.92.

The higher close ended a three-day losing streak for the Dow and S&P 500.

Still, the Dow and the S&P 500 notched their worst week of the year, falling 1.2 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. The Nasdaq rose 0.4 percent for the week.

“I think today is more about portfolios that have missed this rally and are looking to get in on a dip,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management.

Plus, a drop in the dollar “reignited some dollar-sensitive sectors, such as oil, basic materials,” and industrials sensitive to international revenues, he said.

On the Dow, equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. and oil conglomerate Chevron Corp. contributed the most to the index’s point gain on Friday. Hewlett-Packard Co. rose the most in percent terms, gaining 2.6 percent.

Materials, particularly chemical stocks, and energy sectors on the S&P 500 rose the most, gaining nearly 1 percent each. Of the 10 industry groups, only tech and telecoms fell.

Crude-oil futures for May delivery rose 1.4 percent to settle at $106.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, helped by concerns about global supplies following a report that Iranian oil exports fell around 300,000 barrels per day in March. They dipped for the week.

The key stock indexes are up between 7 percent and 18 percent this year, a heady move that had prompted strategists in recent weeks to say a correction was likely.

But the gains have come alongside light trading volumes, which has cast some doubts on the strength of the rally.