NEW YORK >> Bargain hunting propelled stocks sharply higher today after better-than-expected results from Yahoo! renewed hopes that business might be improving after all. Investors yell Yahoo!
as market reboundsBy Lisa Singania
Associated PressAnalysts said investors were lured by lower stock prices, particularly in the tech sector, following Wednesday's selloff. Wall Street was also betting on bullish forecasts from Microsoft and IBM, which were releasing earnings after the market closed.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 137.77, or 1.4 percent, at 9,850.04, rebounding from the 211-point loss the previous session.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11.33, or 1.0 percent, to 1,138.90. The Nasdaq composite index gained 41.38, or 2.1 percent, to 1,985.82.
Advancing issues led decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,954 rising, 1,170 falling and 203 unchanged. Volume came to 1.36 billion shares.
The Russell 2000 index gained 5.97 to 482.39. The NYSE composite index gained 4.10 to 579.26. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 5.80 to 835.22
The price of the Treasury's 2-year note fell 7/32 to 100 20/32, with its yield rising 12 basis points to 2.91. The price of the 10-year note fell 23/32 to 100 1/2, with its yield rising 10 basis points to 4.93. The 30-year note fell 29/32 to 99 /21; its yield rose 6 basis points to 5.41.
In trading today, investors bid Yahoo! up $2.25 to $20.12 on better-than-expected earnings and an indication that its ad market appears to have stabilized.
IBM, the largest seller of computers and related services, said fourth-quarter profit was $1.33 a share, in line with analysts' estimates, Bloomberg News reported.
Microsoft Corp. said fiscal second-quarter net income fell, Bloomberg News reported. Net dropped to $2.28 billion, or 41 cents a share, the company said. Sales rose to $7.74 billion.