Dow surges past 13,000 for first time

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Dow industrials surged past 13,000 near midday Wednesday as investors welcomed Amazon.com's earnings, Alcoa's possible sale of its packaging unit and a strong read on durable goods orders.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 60.05 to 13,013.99, Charts) added 0.5 percent over three hours into the session, moving as high as 13,034.47 - a new intraday high - before pulling back a bit.

The broader S&P 500 (up 6.98 to 1,487.39, Charts) index added 0.5 percent. Should it end where it stood in the morning, it would be at a new more than six-year high. The Nasdaq added (up 11.12 to 2,535.66, Charts) 0.5 percent. Should it close where it stood, it would be at a six-year high.

The major gauges have been on the rise over the last few weeks, with the Dow continuing to carve out record intraday and closing highs, thanks to upbeat earnings.

With 44 percent of the S&P 500 having reported results, earnings are currently on track to have grown 6.2 percent from a year ago, according to the latest Thomson Financial estimates.

In addition to earnings, adding to the momentum Wednesday was a surprisingly strong reading on durable goods orders, which rose 3.4 percent in March, above forecasts.

Another report, released at around 10:00 a.m. ET showed that March home sales rebounded by less than expected from February. In the afternoon, the Fed's "beige book" read on the economy is expected.

While the 30-stock Dow is at an all-time high, the broader S&P 500 index remains below its all-time high of 1,527.46 hit in March 2000 at the end of the late-90s tech boom. The Nasdaq composite is nowhere near its all-time high of 5048.62, also from March 2000.

Although the Dow is a narrow index, its crossing of the 13,000 mark is nonetheless symbolic of the strength of the 4-1/2 year bull market.

"I think it means that the beat goes on and that, specifically, the underlying forces which have been driving the market for more than four years are still intact," said William Hummer, principal at Wayne Hummer Inc.

He said those forces included the promise of economic expansion, probability that inflation will continue to be subdued and a still confident consumer.

Looking out to the rest of 2007, Hummer said that while pullbacks are necessary so as to sustain the upward trend, any such declines would probably be short lived.

In corporate news, Amazon.com (up $10.56 to $55.31, Charts, Fortune 500) reported higher quarterly sales and earnings that topped estimates late Tuesday. The online retailer also said second-quarter and full-year revenue would top current estimates. Shares jumped 21 percent Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning, Dow component Boeing (up $0.50 to $94.17, Charts, Fortune 500) reported higher quarterly sales and earnings that topped estimates. However, the aerospace behemoth also kept its financial forecast for 2007 unchanged. Shares inched lower.

Fellow Dow component Alcoa (up $2.10 to $36.05, Charts, Fortune 500) jumped 5.5 percent after the aluminum maker said it was considering selling its packaging and consumer segment, responsible for about 10 percent of its 2006 revenue. The company also said it was looking to sell several other smaller units.

Corning (up $1.07 to $24.80, Charts, Fortune 500) shares jumped after the fiber-optics maker reported higher quarterly sales and earnings that topped estimates.

On the downside, Sun Microsystems (down $0.65 to $5.29, Charts, Fortune 500) slumped over 10 percent after it reported higher quarterly sales that were short of forecasts late Tuesday. The company also issued a current-quarter sales forecast that is shy of estimates.

The bidding war for ABN Amro (up $2.12 to $49.52, Charts) heated up after a consortium of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland offered offered to buy the bank for more than $100 billion, just a few days after the bank agreed to be bought by Barclays (up $1.31 to $58.16, Charts). The deal would be contingent on ABN Amro breaking its deal to sell its Chicago-based LaSalle unit to Bank of America for $21 billion.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers 3 to 2 on volume of 650 million shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners 5 to 4 on volume of 1.19 billion shares.

U.S. light crude oil for June delivery rose 37 cents to $64.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the release of the mixed weekly oil inventories report.

Treasury prices slipped, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 4.64 percent from 4.62 percent late Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar gained against the yen and was moderately higher versus the euro.