Stocks rose Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average setting another record high, as markets overcame a weak U.S. retail sales report and disappointing General Electric earnings. The Commerce Department reported said retail sales fell 0.4 percent in September on a record 9.3 percent drop in gasoline sales, but were up 0.6 percent excluding gasoline. A surprisingly strong consumer sentiment report did little to boost stocks. Also influencing the market were oil prices, which rose Friday on a Norwegian oilfield shutdown due to safety improvements. Light sweet crude for November delivery rose 71 cents to settle at $58.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.81, or 0.1 percent, to 11,960.51. General Electric (GE), the world's second largest company by market value, reported earnings in line with Wall Street forecasts but short of analysts' hopes. The conglomerate's shares fell 1.4 percent on the news. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.79, or 0.2 percent, to 1,365.62. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 11.11, or 0.5 percent, to 2,357.29. Microsoft rose after the software giant told the European Commission in will not delay shipping its new Windows operating system to Europe. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 18.64 to 8,645.50. The American Stock Exchange composite index jumped 22.95 to 1,902.87. And the Russell 2000 index rose 5.56 to 762.65.
