Dados para hoje nos EUA: Dow hits fresh 6-year high

[notiCIas]

Stocks surge on falling oil prices, strong earnings; blue-chip average at highest close since January 2000.
By Alexandra Twin, CNNMoney.com senior writer
May 4, 2006: 5:45 PM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks jumped Thursday, as falling oil prices, strong quarterly earnings and upbeat retail sales fired up the bulls, lifting the Dow industrials to a fresh six-year high.

The tech-fueled Nasdaq composite (up 19.93 to 2,323.90, Charts) jumped almost 0.9 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average (up 38.58 to 11,438.86, Charts) and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (up 4.40 to 1,312.25, Charts) index both gained around 0.3 percent.





 

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The rally was sufficient to push the Dow to its highest close in more than six years and within 300 points of its all-time high of 11,722.98 set on Jan. 14, 2000.

Friday, the focus turns to the April employment report, due out before the open.

Employers are expected to have added 200,000 jobs to their payrolls, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com. Employers added 211,000 to their payrolls in March. The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, is expected to have held steady at 4.7 percent in the month.

Investors will also be looking at the average hourly earnings component - the report's inflation gauge. Earnings are expected to have risen 0.3 percent in April after rising 0.2 percent in March, according to estimates.

Stocks surged Thursday, as investors welcomed good news on earnings, oil prices and retail sales.

Treasury prices were little changed, with the yield on the 10-year note remaining near a four-year high hit Wednesday. Gold, silver and copper prices rose, continuing the run up in metals.

Crude oil for June delivery sank $2.34 to settle at $69.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a decline of over 3 percent. Oil has now tumbled more than 6 percent the last two sessions in response to a government report showing a surprise rise up in oil and gas supplies.

"There's a lot of liquidity out there, a lot of people wanting to put money to work, and you've got some good earnings news," said Jim Melcher, president of Balestra Capital.

"People want to see the market go higher right now," Melcher said. "So that's helping them ignore broader concerns like the atrocious trade deficit and the decline of the housing market."

Stocks struggled Wednesday amid some weak earnings reports and revived worries about interest rates. But the tone improved Thursday, along with the batch of results.

"It's an ongoing tug-of-war between strong earnings growth and worries about inflation, and today the market is saying the earnings power is stronger," said James Awad, chairman at Awad Asset Management.

With nearly 80 percent of the S&P 500 having reported results, earnings are on track to rise about 13.8 percent from a year ago, which would mark the 11th straight quarter that corporate profits grew at least 10 percent, according to earnings tracker Thomson Financial.

Thursday's stock movers
Economically sensitive stocks such as Alcoa (up $0.76 to $34.48, Research), Boeing (up $0.77 to $86.64, Research) and Caterpillar (up $0.71 to $78.81, Research) gained, as did fellow Dow components Hewlett-Packard (up $0.45 to $33.29, Research), Microsoft (up $0.27 to $23.44, Research) and Intel (up $0.18 to $19.34, Research).

Intel was one of many chip stocks rising, helping the Philadelphia Semiconductor (up 6.78 to 526.84, Charts) index gain 1.3 percent.

A fresh surge in gold prices lifted the Amex Gold Bugs (up $6.22 to $383.76, Research) index 1.6 percent, while the Philadelphia Gold and Silver (up $4.18 to $162.66, Research) index jumped 2.6 percent.

Among companies moving on earnings news, Expeditors International of Washington (up $16.04 to $103.80, Research) surged 18 percent in unusually active Nasdaq trade after the air freight company reported a big jump in profits that topped Wall Street forecasts.

It was one of many stocks helping to boost the Dow Jones Transportation Average by over three percent.

Tyco (up $0.98 to $27.92, Research) gained about 3.6 percent after reporting that fiscal second-quarter earnings rose from a year earlier and met analysts' estimates. The company also lowered its third-quarter and full-year earnings forecast, due to the run up in the price of copper and gold, which the company uses for its electronic products.

Ariad Pharmaceuticals (up $1.45 to $6.99, Research) jumped 26 percent in active Nasdaq trade on news that it had won a key patent infringement suit against fellow drugmaker Eli Lilly (up $0.06 to $52.02, Research).

On the downside, a number of oil stocks declined along with the price of the raw commodity. The Amex Oil (down 8.68 to 1,138.51, Charts) index lost 0.8 percent.

Retail sales mostly impress
A number of retailers reported strong April sales at stores open a year or more -- a key measure known as same-store sales.

Limited Brands (up $0.82 to $26.34, Research) and Talbots (up $2.05 to $25.58, Research) were among the stocks rising on the news.

Whole Foods Markets (up $8.27 to $70.42, Research) shot up over 13 percent in unusually active Nasdaq trade after the company reported higher-than-expected second-quarter earnings, higher-than-expected April same-store sales and lifted its 2006 same-store sales forecast.

Starbucks (up $1.44 to $38.79, Research) reported higher quarterly earnings that beat estimates, sending its stock higher.

Some retail results were not so positive. Chico's FAS (down $7.10 to $30.00, Research) slumped 19 percent in active New York Stock Exchange trading after the women's clothing retailer reported weaker-than-expected April sales and issued an earnings forecast that fell short of analysts' estimates.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers by five to three on volume of 1.76 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners three to two on volume of 2.09 billion shares.

Investors also took note of the morning's reading on first-quarter productivity, which showed a bigger-than-expected jump. Unit labor costs - the report's main inflation component - also gained more than expected.

Treasury prices inched lower, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year note up to 5.15 percent from around 5.14 percent late Wednesday, near a 4-year high.

COMEX gold for June delivery gained $8 to settle at $676.50 an ounce.