NEW YORK - Wall Street ended an erratic session with a big advance Tuesday as investors uneasy about the economy gained reassurance from solid earnings from blue-chip names including Apple Inc. and American Express Co. The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 100 points.
Technology stocks were among the biggest gainers after Apple surpassed analysts' expectations with a 67 percent jump in fiscal fourth-quarter profit on strong sales of Macintosh computers, iPods and iPhones. Two Dow components - American Express, one of the largest credit card companies, and chemical maker DuPont Co. - posted better-than-expected profit gains as well.
"Housing is obviously still a big concern, and the question is how much does it spill over into the rest of the economy," said Alexander Paris, economist and market analyst for Chicagobased Barrington Research. "I think the trend for the market is down unless investors see something positive and the market drifts back up again."
The Dow rose 109.26, or 0.81 percent, to 13,676.23. Broader stock indicators also had solid gains. The Standard & Poor's500 index rose 13.26, or 0.88 percent, to 1,519.59; the Nasdaq composite index rose 45.33, or 1.65 percent, to 2,799.26.
Treasury bonds were little changed Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year note, which moves inversely to its price, edged higher to 4.41 percent from 4.40 percent Monday.
Advancing issues led decliners 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidatedvolume came to 3.21 billion shares, compared with 3.4 billion Monday.
The dollar fell against most other major currencies; gold rose. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 8.45, or 1.05 percent, to 818.53.
Oil prices dipped on expectations of rising U.S. crude inventories, and concerns over a continuing buildup of Turkish military forces along the northern Iraqi border. A barrel of light, sweet crude fell 75 cents to $85.27 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei stock average inched up 0.07 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index soared 3.54 percent. In European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.85 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.61 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.77 percent.
Business, Pages 30 on 10/24/2007