NEW YORK, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street moved slightly higher on Friday, as better-than-expected economic data offset the delay of stress test results weighing on financials.

    Investors were glad to see that the U.S. manufacturing activity contracted at a slower-than-expected pace in April. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, said on Friday its manufacturing index rose to 40.1 in April from 36.3 in March.

    Moreover, confidence among U.S. consumers rose more than forecast in April to its highest level since September 2008. The Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment rose to65.1 from 57.3 in March, the biggest gain in more than two years.

    The Federal Reserve is postponing the release of stress tests on the biggest U.S. banks while executives debate preliminary findings with examiners. And the market didn't regard this as a positive sign.

    In corporate news, two insurers -- the Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and MetLife Inc. -- posted losses for the first quarter late Thursday. And MasterCard Inc. tumbled as a stronger dollar and a decrease in credit card spending weighed on results.

    On Friday, Citigroup announced it is selling its Japanese brokerage business to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. for about 5.6 billion U.S. dollars.

    The Dow Jones rose 44.29 points, or 0.54 percent, to 8,212.41. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.71 points, or 0.54 percent, to 877.52 while the Nasdaq climbed 1.9 points, or 0.11 percent, to 1,719.20.