J&J's earnings data helps boost Wall Street

Dow Jones: 12,266.75 (+65.16) SP 500: 1,312.62 (+7.48) Nasdaq: 2,744.97 (+9.59)US STOCKS rose yesterday, as benchmark indexes rebounded from the worst declines in a month,after housing starts increased and earnings beat estimates at companies from Johnson and Johnson to Steel Dynamics.

A gauge of home builders in S&P indexes gained 2.2 per cent as all of its 12 stocks advanced.

Johnson and Johnson, the second-biggest seller of health products, rallied 3.7 per cent, the most in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Steel Dynamics added 5.7 per cent as its profit also beat projections.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold rose 2.2 per cent, pacing gains in raw-material producers as gold touched a record $1,500.50 an ounce.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 65.16 points, or 0.53 per cent, to end at 12,266.75.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 7.48 points, or 0.57 per cent, to finish at 1,312.62.

The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 9.59 points, or 0.35 per cent, to close at 2,744.97.

“Buy the dips, sell the rips,” said Burt White, who helps oversee $284 billion as chief investment officer at LPL Financial in Boston.

“This market has been very resilient. Things are better than people think as far as the economy goes. Today’s housing numbers were pretty good. You’ve got a bellwether such as Johnson and Johnson coming out with good news. The market is excited to see that,” he said.

Pulte rose 5.1 per cent to $8.24 and KB Home added 3.2 per cent to $11.66.

Texas Instruments warned late Monday of slower-than-usual quarterly sales growth, citing damage to its factories in Japan after the earthquake there in March. The chipmaker’s stock fell 0.7 per cent to $34.54.

The S&P 500 rose 3.8 per cent in 2011 through Monday, extending last year’s 13 per cent rally, amid government stimulus measures and corporate earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.

Stock-futures extended gains before the open of regular trading as Commerce Department figures showed that work began on 549,000 houses at an annual pace, up 7.2 per cent from the previous month and exceeding 520,000 median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. – (Bloomberg/Reuters)