Stocks ended higher Friday, continuing a September rally despite trading with uncertainty most of the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13.02, or 0.1 percent, to 10,607.85, a one-month high. The Dow has gained a total of 4.5 percent over the past three weeks.
Cisco rose 6 percent this week and Microsoft rose 5.7 percent, making the tech stocks the best performers on the Dow for the week. The worst performing stock was Coca-Cola , down 1.6 percent.
The S&P 500 rose 0.93 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,125.59, also a one-month high. The broad-market index has gained 5.73 percent over the last three weeks. JC Penney was the best performer for the week, rising 15.4 percent, followed by Expedia , which rose 11.2 percent.
The S&P briefly touched an intraday high of 1,137.47 Friday, but soon retracted. The index has been bound in a range capped at 1,130, and some analysts believe the market could move higher once it breaks through that crucial barrier.
The tech-heavy Nasdaqrose 12.36 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,315.61, a four-month high. The index is up 7.52 percent for the past three weeks. Expedia also topped the Nasdaq, as did Oracle, rising 9.7 percent. Comcast was the worst performer, falling 4.13 percent.
Industrials, telecom and technology sectors led the session Friday, while financials and energy stocks fell.
The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, rose above 22.
Volatility has been at its lowest level in four months and that means investors aren't fearful of the market's direction, said Nate Peterson, senior derivatives analyst at Charles Schwab.
But given the low levels of the VIX, the uncertain economic outlook, and in advance of earnings pre-announcement season, active investors should consider purchasing protection for their investments, Peterson said in a research note.
"It just seems the markets are at a pause this week," said Dan Cook, senior market analyst at IG Markets.
Volume remained relatively light all week, despite the first full week of trading for September. While the major indexes continued to bounce in and out of positive territory Friday, as they had much of the week, Cook said, "I take it as positive that we’ve held where we’ve had, in the face of mixed data."
Among technology stocks, shares of Oracle soared more than 7 percent after the business software giant reported a profit that jumped 38 percentand easily outpaced analysts' estimates. In addition, at least eight brokerages raised their price targets on Oracle.
Research In Motion rose more than 2 percent after the BlackBerry maker posted results that exceeded analysts' expectationsand raised its outlook for the current quarter.
Texas Instruments also rose after the semiconductor firm announced a plan to buy back another $7.5 billion of common stock, and said it would raise its quarterly dividend to 13 cents a share.
However, an overall boost in the tech sector didn't include all stocks. Microsoft fell after FBR Capital Markets lowered its profit estimates for the company, citing softer demand for PCs, and rival Intel also slipped.
Sandisk , meanwhile, fell nearly 4 percent after Auriga confirmed its sell rating and $31 price target for the maker of flash drives.