Stocks and Dollars

With the S&P 500 at a 17-month high investors are buying Burger King and some of the other few stocks that fell or underperformed the index the last 12 months in a bid they will catch-up and fuel the next leg of this bull market.

Shares of potash stocks soar on Friday after Potash Corp. s raising its earnings outlook. Analysts say demand for the fertilizer ingredient is rising faster than expected this year.

Stocks are hugging the flat line Friday after March consumer sentiment dipped, though February retail sales data came in ahead of estimates.

Shares of fertilizer makers leaped Friday after Potash Corp. raised its first-quarter profit forecast, predicting a sharp rebound in potash demand will drive record first-quarter sales volume in North America.

* Retail sales up, consumer sentiment slips * United Tech shares fall after outlook * Dow up 0.1 pct, S&P off 0.02 pct, Nasdaq off 0.1 pct

Shares of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust surged to a 52-week high on Friday after the shopping mall REIT announced it has closed on a new $670 million credit agreement. The stock rose even as the company s fourth-quarter financial results Friday fell short of Wall Street expectations.

17:35 GMT: A record rise in eurozone industrial production and Wall Street s move on Thursday to fresh 17-month highs provided a positive backdrop to global markets on Friday, but was tempered by a poor consumer sentiment report from the US.

Airline stocks climbed higher Friday morning with the wider market. The NYSE Arca Airline Index rose les than 1% to 38.40 points, just shy of a 52-week high set earlier this week. Shares of Continental , Delta Air Lines and United parent UAL Corp. were each up fractionally.