Dow surges to new record

Major gauges jump as investors welcome upbeat bank earnings and shrug off jump in oil prices; tech rallies.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks surged midday Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average touching a new record trading high and the S&P 500 hitting a fresh 6-year high.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 61.13 to 12,378.63, Charts) added 0.5 percent 2-1/2 hours into the session, while the broader S&P 500 index (up 9.14 to 1,422.35, Charts) added 0.7 percent. The tech-fueled Nasdaq (up 22.52 to 2,454.93, Charts) composite gained nearly 1 percent.

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Upbeat earnings from the bank sector, a bounce back in recently hit technology shares, and a big drop in weekly jobless claims all fueled the stock boost.

"The trend remains positive, you just can't fight it right now," said Greg Church, president at Church Capital.

Year-to-date, the Dow is up nearly 15 percent, the S&P 500 is up over 13 percent and the Nasdaq is up more than 10 percent. The Russell 2000 (up 6.35 to 795.10, Charts) small-cap index has risen more than 17 percent this year.

Equities also also benefited as the market has continued the rally that began in the summer. Both Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers reported higher quarterly earnings Thursday morning that beat estimates. Bear Stearns (up $3.35 to $159.24, Charts) shares rose, while Lehman (up $0.09 to $76.46, Charts) dipped.

Intel (up $0.19 to $20.89, Charts), Dell (up $0.77 to $26.84, Charts) and Amazon.com (up $0.77 to $39.27, Charts) were among the big technology shares leading the Nasdaq higher.

A variety of chip stocks jumped, including Altera (up $0.53 to $19.92, Charts), Advanced Micro Devices (up $1.52 to $21.69, Charts) and Xilinx (up $0.63 to $24.85, Charts). The Philadelphia Semiconductor (up 8.26 to 475.27, Charts) index, or the SOX, gained almost 2 percent.

Ciena (up $2.38 to $27.34, Charts) jumped 9 percent after reporting fiscal fourth-quarter profit versus a loss a year ago. The telecom gear maker also issued an upbeat first-quarter 2007 profit outlook.

In deals news, Nestle said it's buying the medical nutrition unit of Swiss pharmaceuticals firm Novartis for $2.6 billion.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers three to one on volume of 420 million shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by more than nine to five on volume of 590 million shares.

Investors also considered a report that showed a surprisingly large drop in the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment last week.

Also a factor: the possibility of the Democrats losing control of the Senate amid news that a Democratic senator from South Dakota was in critical condition after suffering a brain hemorrhage. (Full story)

U.S. light crude oil for January delivery gained $1.13 to $62.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after OPEC said it would cut production by 500 million barrels per day starting Feb. 1.

Stocks struggled for direction Wednesday as bullish November retail sales competed with higher oil prices and Treasury bond yields.

Treasury prices were barely lower, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note at 4.48 percent, little changed from late Wednesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar rose against the yen and euro.

COMEX gold gained 30 cents to $632.70 an ounce.


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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.