GE’s earnings helped reassure investors skittish following Intel Corp.’s disappointing revenue projections earlier this week.

"The key thing here is that you’re starting to see some aggressive buying coming back into the market," said Jim Raphalian, head of institutional trading at Charles Schwab. "There’s more than one buyer for any stock being sold, and there are both institutional and retail buyers. And that’s because earnings are showing us that fundamentals are sound."

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 46.66, or 0.4 percent, at 10,600.51, a new 52-week high. It was the index’s highest close since March 19, 2002, when it finished at 10,635.30.

The Nasdaq finished up 31.38, or 1.5 percent, at 2,140.46, eclipsing the previous 2 1/2-year high reached Monday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed up 7.78, or 0.7 percent, at 1,139.83.

For the week, the Dow was up 1.4 percent, the Nasdaq gained 2.6 percent and the S&P 500 rose 1.6 percent.

GE, a Dow component, posted fourth-quarter profits 47 percent higher than a year ago, boosted by increased industrial demand. GE closed up $1.35 at $33.35, a new 52-week high.

"These early earnings reports show signs of a broad economic recovery," said Subodh Kumar, chief investment strategist for CIBC World Markets. "However, unlike the first through third quarters, where the markets responded strongly, the expectations of the earnings are already built into the market prices, so we’ll see more price fluctuation on individual reports."

Home Depot Inc. raised its year-end profit forecast by 2 cents per share, although it predicted slightly slower growth in 2004. The stock closed down 49 cents at $34.94.

International Business Machines Corp. again drove the market after Smith Barney upgraded the stock and the computer giant landed a $250 million contract to provide Nokia with desktop computers and ongoing services. IBM climbed $1.30 to $95.32, just short of its year high.

Juniper Networks Inc. jumped $7.00, or 31 percent, to close at $29.93 after the network equipment maker posted strong fourth-quarter gains yesterday, beating analysts’ estimates by 2 cents, and promised a rosy outlook for the year. SG Cowan Securities and Merrill Lynch upgraded the company today.

Consumer confidence rose to its highest level in three years in mid-January, according to the University of Michigan’s index. In addition, businesses boosted inventories by a modest 0.3 percent in November, a sign of wary confidence in the economic rebound. However, the government announced industrial production was up only 0.1 percent in December, short of the 0.5 percent expected by Wall Street.