Wall Street rallies on corporate earnings, Fed Beige Book
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Hartwood [2011-05-20]
Wall Street rallied back on Wednesday after Tuesday's plunge as investors digested earnings from Morgan Stanley, Boeing and Delta Airlines and reports from the Federal Reserve's Beige Book.
Shares of Boeing were up more than 3 percent as the company swung to a quarterly profit, helped by higher commercial airplanes volumes, and raised its 2010 earnings forecast.
Delta Airlines' stock rose more than 10 percent after the company reported a 19-percent jump in passenger revenue. American Airlines parent AMR Corp. surged 13 percent after its first profit in two years, while US Airways Group also gained 7.3 percent on strong earnings.
Shares of Yahoo rose 2 percent after the company reported a jump in third quarter profit. Intel gained 2.5 percent after it said it would invest up to 8 billion U.S. dollars over several years to upgrade its manufacturing plants in the United States.
Wells Fargo gained 5.2 percent after the bank posted its best- ever quarterly earnings and made encouraging remarks on the foreclosure issue. Morgan Stanley lost 0.04 percent after the investment bank said its net profit fell in the third quarter.
Economic growth continued at a sluggish pace over the past few weeks, the Fed said on Wednesday, supporting views that the Fed might take action to spur the economy at its next policy meeting.
In its latest economic report, known as the Beige Book, the Fed saw some bright spots in manufacturing, travel, tourism and auto sales, but also weakness in the housing market.
The U.S. dollar declined to a 15-year low against the yen and fell the most versus the euro since July as the Fed regional survey showed the economy expanded in September at a modest pace.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery rose 2.9 percent, or 2. 28 dollars, to settle at 81.77 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after a government report showed a smaller- than-forecast U.S. stockpile gain.
The Dow Jones industrial average is up 129.35 points, or 1.18 percent, to 11,107.97. The S&P 500 index rose 12.27 points, or 1. 05 percent, to 1,178.17. The Nasdaq composite gained 20.44 points, or 0.84 percent, to 2,457.39.