Wall Street ends up after economic data; S&P up for a fifth week

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday following upbeat economic data and gains in technology shares, pushing the Dow and the S&P 500 to a fifth straight week of gains.

Data showed U.S. retail sales jumped in September, and the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index hit its highest since January 2004.

Another report showed consumer prices recorded their biggest increase in eight months as hurricanes Harvey and Irma boosted demand but underlying inflation remained muted.

Netflix shares closed 1.9 percent higher after hitting an intraday record high at $200.82 on a slew of price target increases ahead of its earnings report on Monday.

Apple , up 0.6 percent, gave the S&P 500 its biggest boost, while the S&P technology index <.SPLRCT> was up 0.5 percent. Shares of big banks were mixed following reports from Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

"We're seeing a continuation of the strength in the market combined with low volatility. There seems to be money searching for stocks and looking for investments, simply because the momentum is still positive," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.

"Also we're entering a seasonal period where it's difficult to fight the tape. So I imagine there's cash coming in off the sidelines."

The CBOE volatility index <.VIX> remains at historically depressed levels, closing at 9.61 on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30.71 points, or 0.13 percent, to end at 22,871.72, and the S&P 500 gained 2.24 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,553.17.

The Nasdaq Composite added 14.29 points, or 0.22 percent, to 6,605.80, a record closing high.

For the week, the Dow was up 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 was up 0.2 percent. The Nasdaq rose 0.2 percent for the week, registering a third week of gains.

Bank of America , the second-biggest U.S. bank by assets, rose 1.5 percent after the lender's profit topped estimates due to higher interest rates and a drop in costs.

But Wells Fargo tumbled 2.8 percent after it reported lower-than-expected revenue for the fourth straight quarter due to a decline in mortgage banking revenue.

The reports from the Wall Street banks kicked off the third-quarter earnings season, with investors hoping profit growth will help justify valuations after a rally that has sent the S&P 500 up about 14 percent so far this year.

Also limiting the day's gains, the healthcare sector <.SPXHC> was down 0.3 percent as health insurers and hospital operators tumbled on news that President Donald Trump scrapped billions of dollars in Obamacare subsidies to private insurers for low-income Americans.

Centene sank 3.3 percent, Molina Healthcare dropped 3.4 percent and Anthem fell 3.1 percent.

Tenet Healthcare dropped 5.1 percent and Community Health System declined 4 percent.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.43-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.08-to-1 ratio favoured decliners.

About 5.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges. That compares with the 6.1 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish)