Equities soar as Yahoo! earnings lift tech sector

Dow Jones: 12,453.54 (+186.79) SP 500: 1,330.36 (+17.74) Nasdaq: 2,802.51 (+57.54)US STOCKS rallied yesterday, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its highest close since June 2008, as sales at companies from Intel to Yahoo! exceeded estimates and commodity producers gained.

Intel, the biggest chipmaker, climbed 7.8 per cent after forecasting revenue that may top projections.

Yahoo!, the most-visited US Web portal, jumped 4.7 per cent.

United Technologies, the maker of Pratt and Whitney jet engines, rose 4.3 per cent after increasing the lower end of its sales forecast.

Alcoa and Chevron added at least 1.2 per cent as commodity prices advanced amid a weaker US dollar.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 186.79 points, or 1.52 per cent, to end at 12,453.54.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 17.74 points, or 1.35 per cent, to finish at 1,330.36.

The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 57.54 points, or 2.10 per cent, to close at 2,802.51.

“We’ve had enough good earnings,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“For lots of companies across different industries, this was a wait and see quarter, where people wondered – was the economy slowing down? A lot of the companies have come through that with good numbers and a pretty positive outlook. That’s a bullish indication,” he said.

Earnings per share beat analysts’ estimates at 76 per cent of the 59 companies in the S&P 500 that reported results since April 11th, Bloomberg reported.

Companies in the index have topped estimates for eight straight quarters, the longest streak since at least 2006, helping propel the gauge up as much as 99 per cent from the market bottom on March 9th, 2009, Bloomberg said.

The PHLX housing sector index rose 1.2 per cent with home builder DR Horton up 3 per cent at $12.17.

On the downside, International Business Machines slipped 0.4 per cent to $164.75.

Stocks extended gains yesterday after sales of second-hand US homes rose 3.7 per cent to a 5.1 million annual rate in March, exceeding the 5 million median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. – (Bloomberg/ Reuters)