MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Book 2nd Straight Weekly Gain

By Anora Mahmudova and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

GE shares surge after restructuring and buyback news

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks ended the session higher on Friday, with the main benchmarks booking their second straight weekly gain.

Friday's advance came as General Electric Co. surged 11% following an announcement of a comprehensive restructuring plan and a hefty stock repurchases.

GE's surge helped push the Dow Industrials above 18,000 level for the first time in nearly three weeks.

The S&P 500 (SPX) closed 10.88 points, or 0.5%, higher at 2,102.05 and recorded a 1.7% gain over the week. Industrials and energy-sector stocks were the week's biggest winner, rising more than 3%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) added 98.92 points, or 0.6%, to 18,057.65 and gained 1.7% over the week.

The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) ended the session up 21.41 points, or 0.4%, to 4,995.98 and recorded a 2.2% weekly gain. The tech-heavy index is less than a percentage point away from the 5,000 level.

Rallies in Asia and Europe set the tone for U.S. markets, said Chris Gaffney, president of EverBank World Markets.

"Markets have been trading in a tight range the whole week as the focus shifted to earnings," Gaffney said.

"The drop in earnings is already priced in. While we expect companies to beat already lowered expectations, forward guidance will be more important," Gaffney said.

Gaffney cautioned that valuations are at the higher end of the spectrum, which he said calls for diversification into international markets.

Lacker's speech: Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker, a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, in a speech reiterated his case for June hike.

"In current circumstances, raising the funds rate target a notch or two is less like taking away the punch bowl and more like just slowing down the refills. We will still be spiking the punch--just not quite as rapidly as we have been," Lacker said.

The minutes from the Fed's March meeting -- which was held before the disappointing jobs report -- showed several central-bank officials thought June was an appropriate (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/several-on-fed-favored-june-rate-increase-minutes-2015-04-08) time for a rate hike.

This amazing dollar rally has a lot in common with classic bubbles (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-amazing-dollar-rally-has-a-lot-in-common-with-classic-bubbles-2015-04-10)

Stocks to watch: Shares of Apple Inc.(AAPL) gained 0.4% as the company kicked off its online preorder period (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-buy-an-apple-watch-2015-04-09) for the Apple Watch. Starting on April 24, the watch will also be available at stores in big cities including Colette in Paris, Dover Street Market in London, Tokyo, Maxfield in Los Angeles and The Corner in Berlin.

An 11% gain for General Electric Co.(GE) helped send the benchmarks higher, after the conglomerate said it would sell the bulk of GE Capital and launch a $50 billion stock buyback.

Shares of Citrix Systems Inc.(CTXS) fell 1.3% after the software company late Thursday lowered its first-quarter profit and sales outlook.

For more on today's notable movers read Movers & Shakers column (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-likely-in-spotlight-as-watch-preorder-kicks-off-2015-04-09).

Other markets: European stocks recorded their strongest weekly gains in two months (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid), with the Stoxx Europe 600 and Germany's DAX 30 index scaling record highs.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index briefly rose above 20,000, but closed almost 100 points shy of the milestone (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid).

Gold prices (GCM5) snapped a three-day losing streak and setled $11, or 0.9%, higher at $1,204.60. Crude oil (CLK5)ended volatile week with a gain (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-futures-stable-after-volatile-week-wti-above-50-a-barrel-mark-2015-04-10), rising 85 cents, or 1.7%, higher at settle at $51.64 a barrel.

The ICE dollar index (DXY) rose 0.3%, to 99.40 (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) and logged its best week in a bout a month.

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