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World market indices mixed

06 February 2009 08:15 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Vahab Rzayev - APA-Economics. Wall Street is getting a little daring once again.
Investors shook off weak economic readings Thursday and placed bets on retail and technology stocks after several companies posted better-than-expected sales and profit reports. The major indexes gained more than 1 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which rose 106 points, AP reports.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow industrials rose 106.41, or 1.34 percent, to 8,063.07. The Dow fell as much as 111 points early in the session.
Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 13.62, or 1.64 percent, to 845.85, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 31.19, or 2.06 percent, to 1,546.24.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 6.60, or 1.47 percent, to 455.08.
Advancing issues outnumbered losers by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.63 billion shares.
Bond prices were mixed Thursday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite to its price, fell to 2.92 percent from 2.94 percent late Wednesday. The yield on the three-month T-bill was flat at 0.28 percent from late Wednesday.
The gains in stocks came as investors again looked to Washington for help on the economy. Wall Street is waiting for a $920 billion economic stimulus plan to pass the Senate. Debate in the Senate continued for the fourth day Thursday.
Bank stocks moved higher. JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 50 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $24.54, and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. rose $1, or 3.5 percent, to $29.83.
Regional banks also rose. Huntington Bancshares Inc. jumped 35 cents, or 24 percent, to $1.79. Regions Financial Corp. rose 33 cents, or 13 percent, to $2.83.
Retailers climbed after issuing their sales reports. Wal-Mart rose $2.14, or 4.6 percent, to $48.56, while Macy’s rose 43 cents, or 5.2 percent, to $8.75.
Among tech stocks, Akamai rose $2.56, or 18 percent, to $16.73.
The dollar was mostly higher against other major currencies. Gold prices also climbed.
Light, sweet crude rose 85 cents to settle at $41.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.01 percent, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.39 percent, and France’s CAC-40 slipped 0.09 percent. Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 1.11 percent.