The stock market continued its resilience as it shakes off weak economic data Friday, following an impressive afternoon rally in the face of bearish Greece news and high US unemployment claims the day before.

The S&P 500 Index gained 0.97 points, or 0.09 percent, to trade at 1,103.90 at 11:58 am. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 7.64 points, or 0.07 percent, to trade at 10,328.67.

Foreign car makers and energy companies are among the biggest gainers. The American Depository Receipts (ADRs) of Toyota (NYSE:TM) are up 1.23 percent, those of Honda (NYSE:HMC) are up 0.91 percent, and those of Tata (NYSE:TTM) are up 5.72 percent.

The ADRs of PetroChina (NYSE:PTR) are up 1.30 percent and those of Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE:PBR.A) are up 1.33 percent.

The U.S. stock market initially reacted to the second estimate of fourth quarter GDP, released Friday at 8:30 am EST, with little enthusiasm as the major indices traded flat in the opening 30 minutes. Although the overall figure was higher than expected, sales of final products was revised downward.

The downward revision, combined with Thursday's higher than expected unemployment claims, highlight the anemic demand for final products that is constrained by continued weakness in the labor market.

The stock market reacted sharply to the January existing home sales report at 10:00 am. The sales unexpectedly declined 7.2 percent to an annualized figure of 5.05 million.

Economists, because of the extended housing tax credits, actually expected an increase of 0.9 percent, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

The S&P 500 dropped nearly 5 points within minutes of this announcement before recovering to trade positive for the day.

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