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Dow up 5.30;
Associated Press
Nasdaq soars 75NEW YORK - Stocks closed higher today as investors took a cautious but mostly optimistic view of another batch of strong second-quarter earnings reports.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 5.30 at 10,788.71. The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed up 2.92 at 1,495.84 and the Nasdaq composite index finished up 75.27 at 4,174.86. Advancers edged out decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,459 up, 1,419 down and 480 unchanged. Volume came to 1.03 billion shares, up from yesterday's pace of 999.23 million shares.
The NYSE composite index fell 1.42 to 659.71, the American Stock Exchange composite index lost 15.54 to 939.43 and the Russell 2000 index was up 2.51 at 542.76.
The Treasury's 30-year bond posted its biggest gain in two weeks, rising 28/32 to a price of 106 6/32. Its yield fell 6 basis points to 5.82 percent, the lowest since April 14.
The technology sector continued to advance today. The surge was led by Ariba, which closed up $27.69 to $131.19. The Internet software company reported narrower than expected fiscal third-quarter losses yesterday and said it will be profitable within a year. In addition, its alliance with International Business Machines and i2 Technologies was selected to build a planned Internet commerce marketplace called WorldWide Retail Exchange. Semiconductor stocks also flourished. Applied Micro Circuits was up $28.06 to $153.50 on the heels of yesterday's earnings that showed revenue more than doubled. And PMC-Sierra rose $20.87 to $228.94 ahead of today's earnings report, which later showed the firm beating forecasts by 4 cents.