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US stocks rise while European markets drop

29 June 2009 07:40 (UTC +04:00)

BakÄ±. Vahab Rzayev - APA-Economics. Investors rushed back into stocks as profits at a handful of companies indicated the economy might be gaining strength, AP reports.
Homebuilders and retailers led a broad rally Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average surged 173 points after four days of losses. The price of government debt jumped after an auction drew strong demand.
The day began with better-than-expected earnings reports. Lennar Corp.’s orders for new homes jumped 63 percent during the second quarter and its revenue beat expectations.
The Dow rose 172.54, or 2.1 percent, to 8,472.40, after falling 40 points in the early going. It was the biggest point and percentage gain for the blue chips since June 1, though the Dow is still down 67 points for the week. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 19.32, or 2.1 percent, to 920.26. The gain pushed the index back into the black for the year.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 37.20, or 2.1 percent, to 1,829.54.
The Dow remains up 29.4 percent from a 12-year low on March 9, but down nearly 330 points, or 3.7 percent, from a five-month high on June 12.
Some analysts say investors will need to see evidence of growth to keep the rally going.
More than four stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 4.9 billion shares compared with 4.7 billion shares Wednesday.
Crude oil rose $1.56 to settle at $70.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies. Gold prices rose.
In other trading, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 14.23, or 2.9 percent, to 509.18.
Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.6 percent, Germany’s DAX index fell 0.7 percent, and France’s CAC-40 lost 0.7 percent. Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 2.2 percent.