Wall Street's best month in nine years?

Investors expect the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index will support that belief — economists predict the April index will the smallest contraction since last October.

The first day of May will also bring data on factory orders, consumer sentiment and vehicle sales.

In addition to economic data, investors are focused on mixed earnings reports and on financial companies. Bloomberg is reporting that the Federal Reserve is delaying the release of the stress tests on the nation’s 19 largest banks while executives debate the results with examiners, according to government and industry officials.

Late Thursday, two insurers — The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and MetLife Inc. — posted losses for the first quarter.

But computer security software maker McAfee Inc. said its first-quarter profit jumped 77 percent, and early Friday, MasterCard Inc. reported a profit decline that was smaller than anticipated.

Better-than-expected earnings have been a big market driver in recent weeks. The S&P 500 index, a broad measure of the market, rose 9.4 percent in April, the biggest monthly jump since March 2000.

News on Thursday that Chrysler LLC will go through bankruptcy reorganization put just a small dent in Wall Street’s recovery, which began in early March. The Dow, still up 24.8 percent from its 12-year low on March 9, dipped 0.2 percent on the last day of April.

Many obstacles could stymie the rally, however. One hurdle is the anticipated "stress test" announcement Monday. That day, the Treasury Department will say which of the 19 largest U.S. banks need more capital to survive a severe economic downturn.

Citigroup Inc. is one of the banks investors are most worried about. On Friday, Citigroup announced it is selling its Japanese brokerage business to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. for about $5.6 billion. The troubled bank has been shedding businesses over the past year to slim down and raise cash.

U.S. government bond prices slipped. The dollar was mostly lower against other major currencies. Gold prices also declined.

Light, sweet crude rose 9 cents to $51.21 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In overseas trading, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 1.7 percent. By midday in Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was flat. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC-40 were closed for a holiday.

Starbucks 2Q profit down 77 percent on charges

KBR said net income was $77 million, or 48 cents per share, down from $98 million, or 58 cents per share, last year.