Stocks Rise on Yahoo Earnings and Jobs Data
By REUTERS
Filed at 5:03 p.m. ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Thursday as positive news on jobs and much higher earnings from Internet media company Yahoo Inc. (YHOO.O) helped drive the tech-laden Nasdaq to its highest close in 19 months.
The blue-chip Dow closed at a 16-month high.
``It started last night. We had Yahoo earnings and Genentech earnings,'' said Todd Leone, head of listed trading at S.G. Cowen. ``They turned up positive. We had good jobless claims numbers and that's the second time we've seen good numbers out of labor, so that helped move it up.''
The busiest weeks of the third-quarter earnings reporting period start on Monday, but some quarterly scorecards are already trickling in.
Yahoo late on Wednesday posted a profit more than double last year's and raised its annual earnings guidance. Genentech Inc. (DNA.N) also posted higher profits.
Early on Thursday, the government reported the number of Americans lining up for first-time unemployment benefits fell to its lowest level in eight months. The report strengthened speculation the labor market is stabilizing.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) rose 49.11 points, or 0.51 percent, to 9,680.01, and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) rose 4.95 points, or 0.48 percent, to 1,038.73. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Indexwas up 18.12 points, or 0.96 percent, at 1,911.90.
Trading was heavy with about 1.56 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange and 2.08 billion on the Nasdaq.
Stocks pared gains late in the session but the Nasdaq still closed at its highest since March 2002 and the Dow since June 2002.
``I suspect that after the last week and half or so of big gains, you get some people who are nervous enough to take profits,'' said Alfred Kugel, senior investment strategist at Stein Roe Investment Counsel. ``But we've still had a very good month so far, contrary to some people's expectations.''
JOBLESS CLAIMS FALL
The Labor Department's report showed jobless claims fell to 382,000 in the week ended Oct. 4 from a revised 405,000 in the week before that. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a drop to 393,000 last week.
Yahoo, one of the most active stocks on the Nasdaq, rose $3.96, or 10.2 percent, to $42.75.
Genentech shares rose $3.23, or 4.1 percent, to $81.98. Genentech said after the close of regular trading on Wednesday that third-quarter earnings rose 70 percent, driven by sales of two key cancer drugs and a legal settlement.
September sales figures from U.S. retailers also helped fuel gains, traders said.
Among retailers reporting better September sales, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N) rose 44 cents to $58.96. Sears Roebuck & Co. (S.N) gained $1.45, or about 3 percent, to $50.18, while Target Corp. (TGT.N) gained $1.10, or 2.8 percent, to $40.40.
AMR Corp. (AMR.N), parent company of American Airlines, surged 11 percent after Morgan Stanley raised its rating. Its shares rose $1.50 to $14.85.
Computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N) was another gainer, rising 79 cents, or nearly 4 percent, to $21.04, lifting the Dow average.
Comic book publisher Marvel Enterprises Inc.'sshares surged almost 18 percent after it raised its quarterly earnings target, citing improvements in its key business of licensing characters such as ``The Hulk,'' ``Spider-Man'' and ``Daredevil'' to producers of films, toys and games.
The company's stock ended $4.30 higher at $28.52.
Shares in Computer Associates International Inc.slumped 10.4 percent after the company ousted three executives following an internal audit that showed it had booked revenue improperly in fiscal 2000.
The company is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice for its accounting. Its shares, among the most active on the New York Stock Exchange, fell $3.01 to $26.95. |
