Bernanke, data push stocks up

NEW YORK - Stocks posted small gains Thursday after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank would stick to its efforts to spur the economy.

"Chairman Bernanke basically indicated in his speech that he considers unemployment to be the bigger problem than inflation and that the Fed will continue to focus on that," said Doug Roberts, chief market strategist at Channel Capital Research.

The Federal Reserve has a plan to buy $600 billion in bonds, a tactic known as quantitative easing, to spur lending and make stock ownership more attractive. Some economists had worried that the Fed could end its bond purchases earlier than anticipated.

Stocks fell for the most of the day as concerns over violence in Egypt weighed against better-than-expected U.S. economic news.

Clashes continued in Egypt between pro- and antigovernment demonstrators, causing some analysts to worry about the stability of the Middle East and the impact on oil-rich countries throughout the region, such as Saudi Arabia.

But better-than-expected January sales figures sent shares in retail companies higher. Consumer-discretionary companies in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained 1.2 percent after national chains reported that sales had been nearly double analysts' forecasts despite snowstorms in much of the nation.

Costco Wholesale Corp., Nordstrom Inc., and Gap Inc. all gained more than 4 percent.

The S&P 500 - the benchmark for most U.S. mutual funds - gained 3.07 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at 1,307.10. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 20.29 points, or 0.17 percent, to 12,062.26. The Nasdaq composite rose 4.32 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,753.88.

Among the positive economic reports, the Labor Department said Thursday that fewer people had applied for unjobless benefits last week. A separate report showed that worker productivity in December had risen by its largest amount since 2002. Economists say many employers have reached the limit in how much work they can squeeze from their employees.

The Commerce Department said factory orders had risen in December, the fifth gain in six months.