Stocks Gain Ground

albena
20 Apr, 2005
New York City

Stocks stabilized yesterday on stronger buying fueled by several sound earnings reports and brighter inflation data. US stocks felt relief when the core Producer Price Index rose by only half of what analysts had forecast.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 56.16 points, or 0.56%, to 10127.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 19.44, or 1.02%, to 1932.36. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index climbed 6.73, or 0.59%, to 1152.60.

Several stocks were boosted after the close of trading on Wall Street yesterday: Yahoo's ((YHOO)) shares went up $1.37, or 4.1%, in after-hours trading on doubled profit. Google’s ((GOOG)) stock also surged $7.50, or 3.9%.

Government bonds rose: the 10-year Treasury note gained 21/32 point, or almost $3.75 for each $10,000 invested, to 98 15/32. The yield slid to 4.187%.

Asian markets were mixed in early trading Wednesday - the Nikkei 225 Stock Average was up 0.6%, or 67.23 points, at 11133.09. China's Shanghai Composite index was down 1.3%. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.0%.

As the world's largest maker of computer chips Intel Corp. ((INTC)) announced late Tuesday 1Q net income beat expectations, climbing 25%, on soaring chips sales investors felt more secure buying tech stocks.

The dollar was trading at 106.86 yen by late afternoon in Tokyo, down 0.22 yen from late Tuesday in Tokyo but above the 106.75 yen it bought in New York later that day.

European stocks climbed back Tuesday on the positive outlook from drug-maker Roche Holding ((RHHVF)) and boosted 1Q sales growth of several major U.S. companies.

Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 index closed 0.7 percent higher at 1,070.9 points. Strong sales from drug maker Roche and gains on Wall Street helped indexes climb back. Dow Jones Euro Stoxx Index gained 0.4% to 271.25. The Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index rose 0.3% to 2957.4. In Paris the CAC-40 Index gained 0.3% at 3962. Frankfurt's Xetra Dax Index rose 0.06% to 4205.

The euro rose slightly against the dollar at $1.3018, from $1.3015 in New York late Monday. The pound dropped to $1.9154 from $1.9031.

U.S. crude oil futures climbed almost $2 - on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for May delivery settled at $52.29, up $1.92. In London, June Brent crude surged $2.16 to $52.94 a barrel on the International Petroleum Exchange.

The market expects Wednesday's Consumer Price Index which is forecast to climb 0.2% in core consumer inflation.