Dow makes it 3 in a row

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street finished a banner week Friday with the Dow industrials closing at a record high for the third day in a row and the Nasdaq hitting its highest level in over 6 years, all despite a weaker-than-expected GDP reading.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 14.71 to 13,120.21, Charts) ended the session slightly higher, with the blue-chip barometer duplicating last week's record run-up by closing at a record high for the third straight day.

The tech-laden Nasdaq composite (up 1.07 to 2,555.53, Charts) closed slightly higher, reaching its highest level in over 6 years. The broader S&P 500 (down 0.74 to 1,493.51, Charts) index closed slightly lower.

Oil prices climbed and gold prices rose. The dollar slumped to the lowest level ever against the euro before easing back a bit, and also fell against the yen.

Here's what was moving before the bell:

After reaching new highs Thursday, the major stock gauges struggled for direction for most of Friday's session as investors sorted through the GDP report's many components and welcomed another batch of strong earnings.

Gross domestic product growth, the broadest measure of the nation's economy, grew at a slower-than-expected 1.3 percent annual rate in the first quarter, the government said. It was the slowest pace in four years and reflected the impact of the weak housing market.

But the slow growth, paired with higher-than-expected inflation components, failed to spook investors.

"I don't think we'd be at this level if the market wasn't comfortable with the forward inflationary outlook," said Scott Wren, senior equity strategist at A.G. Edwards & Sons.

Investors have been pretty well alerted to the reality of slower growth and ongoing pricing pressure, due to recent economic reports and comments from Chairman Ben Bernanke and other Federal Reserve.

Some market observers pointed at some encouraging signs for the future within the report including relative strength in the report's consumer and business spending components, which could mean the next few quarters of GDP growth won't be quite as sluggish as has been feared.

One concern about the housing slump has been that it will drag on spending, as the refinancing boom had served to put money in the hands of consumers. So the stronger consumer number was encouraging, said Jonathan Golub, U.S. equity strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management.

At the same time, he indicated that if the consumer is slowing down, it's important to see that the corporate side is picking up some of the slack.

The revised reading on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan also provided some support to stocks after the final April reading was revised upward to 87.1, exceeding forecasts.

Oil prices climbed and gold prices rose. The dollar slumped to the lowest level ever against the euro before easing back a bit and also fell against the yen.

Stock investors continued to welcome stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings, with the latest coming from Dow stock and tech bellwether Microsoft (up $0.99 to $30.09, Charts, Fortune 500) after the close Thursday.

Microsoft reported higher quarterly sales and earnings that topped estimates, sending shares over 4 percent higher Friday afternoon.

In other news, Dow stock General Electric (up $0.98 to $36.82, Charts, Fortune 500) rose after a Citigroup analyst said the conglomerate should spin off NBC and several other units to give more focus to the company.

The AMEX Airline index slumped Friday after J.P. Morgan downgraded six different air carriers, including AMR Corp. (down $1.30 to $26.39, Charts, Fortune 500), Continental Airlines (down $2.45 to $36.33, Charts, Fortune 500) and JetBlue (down $0.35 to $10.02, Charts), saying it saw few catalysts suggesting upside potential for the different companies.

Shares of Goodyear (up $1.90 to $34.40, Charts, Fortune 500), the largest U.S. tire manufacturer, jumped over 6 percent after the company announced plans to step up its cost-cutting.

With 61 percent of the S&P 500 having reported, first-quarter earnings are currently on track to have risen 6.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the latest Thomson Financial estimates.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers edged out winners on volume of 1.09 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by nearly 3 to 2 on volume of 1.62 billion shares.

U.S. light crude oil for June delivery settled up $1.34 to $66.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for June delivery finished higher.

Treasury prices were mostly flat with the yield on the 10-year note at 4.69 percent, unchanged from late Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar slipped to an all-time low against the euro before paring some of its losses and also fell versus the yen.