NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Blue chips crept higher Friday, pushing the Dow Jones industrial average to yet another record high, as investors shrugged off a weak retail sales report and ho-hum General Electric earnings to keep the market's recent rally going.

The 30-share Dow (up 12.81 to 11,960.51, Charts) ended up 0.1 percent, setting a new closing high for the sixth time in the last nine sessions. The world's most widely watched stock market gauge also hit a record trading high of 11,960.51 in the last minutes of the session.

The next major milestone for the Dow is now 12,000.

The broader S&P 500 (up 2.79 to 1,365.62, Charts) index rose 0.2 percent while the tech-fueled Nasdaq composite (up 11.11 to 2,357.29, Charts) gained about 0.5 percent.

For the week the Dow ended up 0.9 percent, while the S&P gained 1.2 percent and the Nasdaq added 2.5 percent.

Oil prices rose Firday, Treasury bonds fell and the dollar gained against the euro and yen.

Next week, investors will get a plateful of economic numbers as well as plenty of earnings reports to digest as the corporate reporting season gets into full swing.

Over a third of the Dow's 30 companies are set to report next week, including IBM (Charts), Intel (Charts), JP Morgan Chase (Charts), Citigroup (Charts), Coca-Cola (Charts) and Pfizer (Charts). The will also be a myriad of smaller companies reporting.

"There's going to be a boat load next week," said Brian Williamson, a trader at The Boston Company Asset Management. "I think there is some general optimism that the earnings will be good."

Key economic reports on tap next week include the Producer Price Index Tuesday and the Consumer Price Index and housing starts Wednesday.

"It's going to be a battle next week," said Williamson. "What are the inflation numbers, what are the earnings."

Both the Dow and the S&P were lower throughout the morning.

One analyst placed blame for the Dow's early lackluster performance on General Electric.

GE, the No. 2 stock in the world by market value, reported it earned 49 cents a share in the third quarter, in line with Wall Street forecasts, on strong revenue. The company also narrowed its full-year earnings guidance to a range that includes the current consensus forecast.

But GE (down $0.24 to $35.98, Charts) stock fell 1.4 percent on the news.

"Their earnings really failed to impress," said Mike Gibbs, stock strategist at the brokerage Morgan Keegan.

Also weighing on the market earlier: oil prices, which rose Friday on a Norwegian oilfield shutdown due to safety improvements for lifeboats. The steep drop in oil in recent weeks has helped fuel the rally in stocks.

U.S. light crude for November delivery climbed 71 cents to settle at $58.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"Any day they tick up is a day for people to take money off the table," said Gibbs, referring to the effect of oil on stocks.

Rumors that UnumProvident (up $1.84 to $21.72, Charts) may a takeover target sent the insurer's stock soaring 13 percent, and was part of the reason for the market's late push higher. Stocks had been treading water for much of the session.

The big economic news Friday came from retail sales, which disappointed. The Commerce Department said sales fell 0.4 percent in September on a record 9.3 percent drop in gasoline sales, but were up 0.6 percent excluding gasoline.

Wall Street had predicted a 0.2 percent increase. August's number was revised up to 0.1 percent.

Excluding autos, consumer spending fell 0.5 percent, a bigger drop than expected.

The news comes in contrast to robust same-store sales readings issued earlier this month by some of the nation's leading retail chains, including department stores Kohl's (Charts) and J.C. Penney's (Charts) and Nordstrom (Charts).

A surprisingly strong reading on consumer confidence did little to boost stocks in the early going.

The Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index rose to 92.3 in October from September's final reading of 85.4. Economists had predicted a reading of 86.5, according to Briefing.com.

In other corporate news, software giant Microsoft (up $0.15 to $28.37, Charts) told the European Commission it will not delay shipping its new Windows operating system, Vista, to Europe, after fears that it might do so because of disputes with regulators there.

Home Depot (down $1.00 to $36.90, Charts) made some leadership changes and organizational shifts that were met with skepticism from some investors. Raymond James downgraded the stock, which sank nearly 3 percent.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers nearly three to two on volume of 1.5 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners three to two on volume of 1.9 billion shares.

Stocks in Asia closed sharply higher while most European shares ended higher as well.

The dollar gained versus the yen and the euro following the retail sales report.

Treasury prices fell, lifting the yield on the 10-year note to 4.80 percent from 4.77 late Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

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