Stocks Climb on Solid Earnings

albena
21 Apr, 2005
New York City

Inflation worries were relieved and stocks revived quickly Thursday as investors warmly welcomed surprisingly the sound earnings from Nokia and Motorola. This fresh awakening was also bolstered by the news that the NYSE plans to merge with electronic trader Archipelago Inc.

Nokia ((NOK)) soared 6.5%, or $1.00, to $16.34, after posting double-digit 1Q growth and boosting earlier forecasts. The main competitor, Motorola ((MOT)), the world's second largest seller of handsets, also reported better-than-expected earnings on growing sales and went up 5.2 percent, or 78 cents, at $15.71.

Archipelago ((AX)) climbed 48%, or $8.99, at $27.75 on the Pacific Stock Exchange, a day after the New York Stock Exchange announced merger plans with its rival.

Web market place eBay Inc. ((EBAY)) lost 78 cents to $32.33 even though the company posted better-than-expected earnings yesterday on growth in customers. The outlook for the rest of 2005 was also boosted.

Shares of software company VeriSign Inc. ((VRSN)) climbed 11% to $28.50 on Inet after it reported that 1Q profit more than doubled.

After the closing bell on Thursday, Google Inc. ((GOOG)) and Amgen Inc. ((AMGN)) are slated to report earnings.

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average soared 104.19, or 1.04% to 10,116.55, climbing back after a 115-point fall on Wednesday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index surged 11.18, or 0.98% at 1,148.68. The Nasdaq composite gained 23.05, or 1.20%.


Shares UP:

Archipelago was ahead $8.97, or 48%, to $27.85.
Merck was up 34 cents, or 1%, to 34.41
Nokia's ADS gained 95 cents, or 6.2%, to 16.29.
Time Warner advanced 38 cents to 17.31
Comcast was up 57 cents, or 2%, to 32.10.


Shares DOWN:

McDonald's dropped 31 cents to 29.63.
eBay shed 1.39, or 4.2%, to 31.72.