NEW YORK >> Bargain hunters took charge of Wall Street today, halting the market's protracted sell-off and giving stocks their first respectable advance in more than two weeks. The Dow Jones industrials climbed nearly 100 points. Bargain hunters
lift stocksBy Amy Baldwin
Associated PressStocks rallied despite the fact that investors were waiting nervously for President Bush's State of the Union address, which was expected to deal with a possible war with Iraq and the sluggish economy.
The renewed buying, aided by better-than expected earnings, pushed the Dow back up above the 8,000 mark after the blue chip average fell below that milestone yesterday for the first time in three months.
Analysts said the market was due for a rebound after having seen stocks fall for seven of the previous eight sessions.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners slightly more than 9 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, where trading volume was light.
The Dow closed up 99.49, or 1.3 percent, at 8,089.05. It was the Dow's biggest advance in more than two weeks, or since Jan. 9, when it rose 180.87.
The broader market also enjoyed a lift from bargain hunters. The Nasdaq composite index rose 17.05, or 1.3 percent, to 1,342.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 11.08, or 1.3 percent, to 858.56. The Russell 2000 index rose 4.59, or 1.3 percent, to 373.17.
The price of the Treasury's 10-year note was down 1/32 point, while its yield rose to 3.97 percent from 3.96 percent yesterday. The price of two-year Treasury notes was unchanged and their yield held at 1.65 percent.
The market's gains failed to entirely wipe out yesterday's declines, much less those suffered in two weeks of selling, a sign that investors were cautious ahead of Bush's address tonight.
"It is pretty obvious that there is an interest to see what the president is going to say tonight. So, as far as the fundamentals go, like earnings, they are going to take a backseat as the Iraq issue plays itself out," said Kevin Caron, market strategist, Ryan, Beck & Co., LLC.
Investors were also waiting to see what action the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee might take at its two-day meeting that began today. Analysts expected the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged but to move its bias back to one of easing rates in the future.
The market managed to rally despite a Conference Board reported that consumer confidence in January fell nearly 2 points to 79, slightly better than the 78.5 reading economists predicted. And the Commerce Department said orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket items rose by 0.2 percent in December, economists were expecting a 1 percent rise.
Better-than-expected earnings reports contributed to the market's gains. Procter & Gamble rose $1.95 to $85 on fourth-quarter profits that were a penny a share higher than Wall Street's estimate.
Xerox climbed $1.40 to $9.45 after posting a fourth-quarter profit of a penny a share, much better than the 11-cent loss analysts were anticipating.
DuPont advanced 27 cents to $38.73 after beating earnings expectations by 2 cents a share.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average finished down 0.7 percent. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 0.3 percent, France's CAC-40 gained 0.2 percent and Germany's DAX index rose 1 percent.
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