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US markets rally amid European indices mixed

03 June 2009 10:04 (UTC +04:00)

Stocks traded in a tight range around the break-even point Tuesday. Gains early in the day briefly pushed the Dow Jones industrial average into the black for 2009. The blue chips had been down by as much as 25.4 percent for the year in early March.
In midafternoon trading, the Dow rose 30.88, or 0.4 percent, to 8,752.32. The Dow at times traded above 8,776.39, its finish for 2008.
The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 4.28, or 0.5 percent, to 947.15, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 12.70, or 0.7 percent, to 1,841.38.
Financial stocks fell after several banks announced plans to raise capital to help repay federal bailout funds.
Morgan Stanley said it will raise $2.2 billion in common stock offering, after JPMorgan Chase & Co. and American Express Co. announced similar plans late Monday. JPMorgan will offer $5 billion of common stock, while American Express is seeking to raise $500 million.
Morgan Stanley fell 11 cents to $29.78, while JPMorgan fell $1.16, or 3.2 percent, to $34.95. American Express slid $1.15, or 4.4 percent, to $24.84.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has sold part of its stake in Industrial & Commercial Bank of China to raise more than $1.9 billion to help repay bailout money. Goldman slipped 65 cents to $143.68.
In technology news, data storage company EMC Corp. offered late Monday to buy Data Domain Inc. for $1.8 billion, or $30 per share. The all-cash offer came less than two weeks after NetApp Inc. made its own bid for the company at $25 a share.
Data Domain jumped $5.10, or 19.4 percent, to $31.45, while EMC rose 43 cents to $12.85. NetApp fell $1.09, or 5.3 percent, to $19.60.
About three stocks rose for every two that fell on the NYSE, where volume came to 815.6 million shares compared with 842.9 million shares at the same time Monday.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 7.26, or 1.4 percent, to 528.59.
Interest rates on long-term Treasurys edged higher after jumping back and approaching last week’s highs on Monday.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which is used as a benchmark for home mortgages and other consumer loans, rose to 3.69 percent from 3.68 percent late Monday. Investors have been mindful in recent weeks of how rising yields could hamper an economic recovery by driving up interest rates.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Light, sweet crude fell 1 cent to $68.57 on the New York Mercantile Exchange after settling at its highest level of the year on Monday.
Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.7 percent, Germany’s DAX index rose less than 0.1 percent, and France’s CAC-40 slipped less than 0.1 percent. Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.3 percent. Source: AP