NEW YORK >> Battling its own war angst, Wall Street traded higher today for the first time in four sessions. The advance was hard fought, however, with stocks fluctuating on mixed economic news and ongoing fears about war with Iraq. Stocks up
in volatile trade
By Amy Baldwin
Associated PressAnalysts were dubious that any gains would be long lived, noting that the situation with Iraq is far from certain and a general reluctance to delve into the market ahead of the long President's Day holiday weekend. Stocks have fallen in seven of the previous eight sessions as fears of terrorism and war have escalated.
The market briefly surged early in the day after U.N. inspectors said they'd uncovered no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Analysts' called it a brief, traders' rally, rather than a firm belief that a war might be avoided.
"I don't know that anyone has come to a clear conclusion about this, to say that war has been averted," said Larry Wachtel, market analyst at Prudential Securities.
The Dow closed up 158.93, or 2.1 percent, at 7,908.80.
The market's broader indicators were also higher. The Nasdaq composite index rose 32.73, or 2.6 percent, to 1,310.17. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 17.52, or 2.1 percent, to 834.89. The Russell 2000 index, the barometer of smaller company stocks, rose 3.73, or 1.1 percent, to 358.50.
The price of the Treasury's 10-year note was down 11/16 point, while its yield rose to 3.96 percent from 3.87 percent yesterday. Two-year Treasury notes were down 1/4 point and yielded 1.68 percent, up from 1.55 percent yesterday.
"We have continuing geopolitical worries being brought to the fore," said Jack Caffrey, equities strategist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank.
Today's batch of economic news was mostly upbeat. Industrial production surged in January, rising by 0.7 percent while businesses boosted inventories the month before -- two signs of promise for a flagging economy.
The 0.7 percent increase in industrial activity, reported by the Federal Reserve, was a turnaround from the 0.4 percent drop in December and better than the 0.3 percent advance economist were predicting.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported that U.S. companies boosted inventories by 0.6 percent in December, the largest amount in three months as retail sales during the holidays fell short of expectations.
The 0.6 percent increase in inventories was stronger than the 0.2 percent rise economists were predicting and represented the biggest boost since September.
But investors were disappointed by the University of Michigan's preliminary report on consumer sentiment for February. The report showed a decrease in sentiment to 79.2 from 82.4 in January. Economists were expecting a reading of 82.0.
Wall Street has been particularly sensitive to news about consumers, fearful that if there is a war they would curtail their spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the economy.
Among Wall Street's winners, Dell Computer climbed $2.52 to $25.77 after posting sharply higher fourth-quarter earnings late yesterday in line with analysts' expectations. Additionally, Dell was upgraded by Needham & Co. and First Albany.
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