Wall Street: Thursday close

13 April 2012

STOCKS rose as positive news on jobs and much higher earnings from Internet media company

Yahoo

The busiest weeks of the third-quarter earnings reporting period start on Monday, but some quarterly scorecards are already trickling in.

Yahoo posted profits more than double last year's and raised its annual earnings guidance. Genentech 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 stabilising.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 49.11 points, or 0.51%, to 9,680.01, and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 4.95 points, or 0.48%, to 1,038.73. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was up 18.12 points, or 0.96%, at 1,911.90.

Stocks pared gains late in the session but the Nasdaq still closed at its highest since March 2002 and the Dow since June 2002.

Yahoo, one of the most active stocks on the Nasdaq, rose $3.96, or 10.2%, to $42.75.

Genentech shares rose $3.23, or 4.1%, to $81.98. Genentech said after the close of regular trading on Wednesday that third-quarter earnings rose 70%, driven by sales of two key cancer drugs and a legal settlement.

September sales figures from US retailers also helped fuel gains, traders said.

Among retailers reporting better September sales, Wal-Mart rose 44 cents to $58.96. Sears Roebuck gained $1.45, or about 3%, to $50.18, while Target gained $1.10, or 2.8%, to $40.40.

AMR, parent company of American Airlines, surged 11% after Morgan Stanley raised its rating. Its shares rose $1.50 to $14.85.

Computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard was another gainer, rising 79 cents, or nearly 4%, to $21.04, lifting the Dow average.

Comic book publisher Marvel Enterprises's shares surged almost 18% 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 slumped 10.4% 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.

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