Dow ends up 46.51

US investors eked out Wall Street’s fifth day of gains of gains in a row today, bucking concerns about lagging consumer sentiment and disappointing second-quarter results from Dell.

Trading got off to a shaky start after the University of Michigan released its preliminary consumer sentiment index, which fell to 78.7 in August, down from 84.7 a month earlier.

Wall Street had been looking for the index to slide to 83.8, and the greater-than-expected drop was viewed as a signal that the US economy may weaken too much.

The poor sentiment index threatened to stall the market’s rally this week, which came on evidence of lower inflation risk and a gently slowing economy.

Yet the market’s recovery from its session lows – aided by a 36 billion stock buyback announced by Microsoft – shows that investors remain optimistic that the Federal Reserve will keep the US economy strong enough to withstand recession while keeping inflation contained.

“If this rally continues on bad economic news, that’s saying that investors have already made a decision we’re going to have a soft landing in this economy,” said Alexander Paris, economist and market analyst for Chicago-based Barrington Research.

Technology stocks nevertheless saw pressure after Dell reported second-quarter profit fell 51%, with sales growth slowing to the lowest rate in three years. The world’s largest computer maker, already reeling from a massive laptop battery recall earlier in the week, also disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission has been investigating its accounting for the past year.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 46.51, or 0.41%, to close at 11,381.40.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 4.82, or 0.37%, to 1,302.30, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 6.34, or 0.29%, to end on 2,163.95.