NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. stocks Friday will try to continue an improbable run that has propelled the Nasdaq composite index up 24 percent in the last 11 weeks to its highest level in nearly a year.

The other major stock indexes are also all higher on the year as investors, looking beyond mixed economic data, expect improving corporate profits in the quarters ahead.

On Thursday, the Nasdaq composite (up 11.71 to 1574.95, Charts) rose for a fifth session for its best finish since June 5, 2002. The Dow Jones industrial average (down 81.94 to 8711.18, Charts) slipped, narrowing its 2003 gain to 4.4 percent. And a day after rising to its highest levels since August, the S&P 500 (down 3.58 to 949.64, Charts) also declined, but is 8 percent higher on the year.

"The duration of the up move has been pretty significant," Tim Heekin, director of trading at investment bank Thomas Weisel Partners, told Reuters. "The buyers are just taking a little bit of a pause."

Economic data Friday on regional manufacturing, and consumer spending and confidence could move a market that has gone higher despite signs of a weak job market, slight economic growth and worries that stocks have become expensive.

"We're testing the bulls' resolve with all these economic data each day," said Bryan Piskorowski, a market analyst at Prudential Financial. "Chicago PMI, due out tomorrow, is a May number, which is important."

Expected shortly after the market opens Friday, the regional manufacturing index is forecast to have risen to 48.8 in May from 47.6 in April, according to a Reuters poll of economists, remaining below the 50-level that signals expansion.

Also due Friday, the revised reading of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for May is forecast to show a reading of 92.6, a Reuters poll finds, down from an initial reading of 93.2 but up from April's 86.0. The figure has been rebounding from a nine-year low reached ahead of the war in Iraq.

Finally, personal income is forecast to show a flat reading in April, after showing a rise of 0.4 percent in March. The report's other component, personal spending is forecast to have shown a rise of 0.1 percent in April, following a rise of 0.4 percent in March, also according to Reuters.

On Thursday, the Commerce Department said that gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, grew at a 1.9 percent annual rate in the first quarter, an upward revision from its first reading of 1.6 percent growth.

And the latest weekly reading on first-time unemployment benefits claims, which showed a drop to 424,000 last week from a revised 433,000 reading the previous week, was seen largely as a positive number. This, although the drop was not as big as analysts had expected and the reading still held above the 400,000 level that is seen as a sign of a contracting labor market.

The weekly report, which lately has gained some importance as an immediate gauge on the economy, has not been below 400,000 since mid-February.

Also likely to have an impact on Friday's trade, after the close of trade Thursday, Microsoft (MSFT: down $0.01 to $24.40, Research, Estimates) said it has agreed to pay AOL Time Warner (AOL: down $0.01 to $14.85, Research, Estimates) $750 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit filed on behalf of Netscape, AOL's subsidiary. AOL Time Warner runs CNN/Money.

Technology shares boosted the Nasdaq, with a lot of the buying concentrated in chips and hardware.

Intel (INTC: up $1.09 to $20.83, Research, Estimates) rose 5.5 percent, topping the Nasdaq's most-active list. The stock is also a member of the Dow industrials. The Philadelphia Semiconductor (up 11.35 to 375.34, Charts) index, or Soxx, which measures chip and chip equipment stocks, rose 3.5 percent.

Cisco Systems (CSCO: up $0.34 to $16.62, Research, Estimates) also added 2 percent, setting a new 52-week high.

"There are a lot of naysayers, a lot of people holding back, but the market keeps showing resilience," said Timothy Ghriskey, president at Ghriskey Capital Partners. "You saw that yesterday with the weak durable good numbers and to a lesser extent, today as well."

Market breadth remained positive as nearly nine stocks rose for every seven that fell on the Nasdaq and eight stocks advanced for every seven that declined on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was strong, with 1.67 billion shares changing hands on the NYSE and some 2.2 billion trading on the Nasdaq. Thursday marked the heaviest daily volume on the Nasdaq so far this year.

Bond yields fell back as prices rose. The 10-year note gained nearly 3/4 of a point in price, its yield inching down to 3.33 percent. The dollar turned lower against both the euro and the yen.

Among key commodities, light sweet crude oil rose 52 cents to $29.10 a barrel in New York. Gold turned higher, rallying $4.50 to $370.70 an ounce in New York.