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US markets move up

10 April 2009 10:31 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Stocks surged Thursday to their highest levels in two months after banking giant Wells Fargo & Co. surprised the market with an early profit report that blew past analysts’ expectations thanks to a strong increase in its lending business.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped nearly 250 points and major market indexes logged their fifth straight week of gains. Markets are closed for Good Friday.
The Dow and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index ended at their highest levels since Feb. 9 and the Nasdaq posted its highest finish of the year, giving it a gain of 4.8 percent for 2009.
The Dow rose 246.27, or 3.1 percent, on Thursday to 8,083.38.
Broader stock indicators also put up big gains. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 31.40, or 3.8 percent, to 856.56. The Nasdaq composite index rose 61.88, or 3.9 percent, to 1,652.54.
For the week, the Dow added 66 points, 0.8 percent. The blue chips hadn’t logged five straight weekly gains since October 2007, when the stock market hit its peak. Since the rally began March 10, the Dow has gained 22 percent, the best performance since 1933.
Even with the rapid rise in the past month the Dow is still down by 42.9 percent from its Oct. 9, 2007 high.
The S&P 500 rose 1.7 percent for the week, while the Nasdaq added 1.9 percent.
In other trading Thursday, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies jumped 26.08, or 5.9 percent, to 468.20.
About seven stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 7.3 billion shares compared with a light 5.07 billion shares traded Wednesday.
Treasury prices fell as the stock rally damped demand for safe-haven investments. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.92 percent from 2.86 percent late Wednesday.
The dollar rose against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude rose $2.86 to settle at $52.24 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 3.7 percent following reports that the country’s ruling party is seeking a stimulus package bigger than originally announced. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.5 percent, Germany’s DAX index rose 3 percent, and France’s CAC-40 rose 1.8 percent. Source: AP