U.S. stocks advanced yet again on Friday, ending the week with the second straight weekly gains for the market, buoyed by news that General Electric would be spinning off its struggling lending business.

Corporate earnings are expected to start ramping up next week, which is what investors are focusing now that this week is over, according to an Associated Press report. Unfortunately, with the economic slowing in the U.S. and Europe and the continued rise in the U.S. dollar, analysts aren’t optimistic about first-quarter results, which are expected to be down 4.6 percent.

The U.S. economy has been struggling of late, according to one analyst at JPMorgan Funds as quoted in the AP report. Because oil continues to be weak and the dollar is strengthening, that means that earnings are going to be down, the analyst said.

A total of 35 companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index are expected to report their results. This includes some of the biggest banks in the nation.

The Dow rose 98.92 points yesterday, closing at 18,057.65. The S&P 500, meanwhile, jumped 10.88 points to 2,102.06, and the Nasdaq composite was up 21.41 points to 4,995.98.

Oil prices have been dragging down the world economy in recent months, and not much has happened to suggest they’ll recover anytime soon. As a result, the oil industry has been slashing jobs and suppliers are having to cut back as well, which is having ripple effects in the world’s economy that is not being offset by the fact that consumers have more money to spend elsewhere.

The U.S. economy has shown strength in recent months, posting strong labor gains and other positive economic indicators, but the growing strength of the U.S. dollar has hurt exports.