Closing Market Report
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Dow industrials soar more than 100 points
By Tim Paradis
Associated Press
NEW YORK » Wall Street rallied for a third straight session yesterday, propelling the Dow Jones industrials up more than 100 points after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reported results that beat expectations and investors grew more confident that the continuing drop in crude oil prices would boost consumer spending.
After seven days of oil price declines, investors pushed shares of consumer-oriented stocks higher. Companies such as General Motors Corp., Home Depot Inc. and Best Buy Co. all showed strong gains.
"I think the concerns about September that led the market lower last week are basically waning because oil prices are declining," said Scott Fullman, director of investment strategy at Hapoalim Securities USA.
"The major benchmarks are performing extraordinarily well. What we've been seeing is the movement of assets out of commodities stocks and into more traditional growth stocks such as health care and technology," he said.
Investors also saw momentum from financial services stocks after Goldman Sachs reported better-than-expected third-quarter results, although profits fell as its trading business slowed.
Not only did Goldman's earnings bode well for rival investment banks due to report this week, but also signaled that companies have not pulled back from going to the markets with equity deals.
The rally helped lift the Dow to a four-month high and the Nasdaq composite index and Standard & Poor's 500 index to three-month highs.
The Dow rose 101.25, or 0.89 percent, to 11,498.09, while the S&P 500 was up 13.57 or 1.04 percent, at 1,313.11. The Nasdaq composite index rose 42.57, or 1.96 percent, to 2,215.82, its highest point gain since Aug. 15, when it rose 45.97.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 16.91, or 2.39 percent, to 724.48.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where final consolidated volume came to 2.95 billion shares compared with 2.66 billion shares traded Monday.
Bonds also advanced, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.77 percent from 4.80 percent Monday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices declined after falling below $600 an ounce Monday for the first time in more than two months.
Oil prices declined for the seventh straight day, falling $1.85 per barrel to $63.76 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It marked the lowest close for crude since late March and it occurred despite a foiled attack on the U.S. embassy in Damascus.