Stocks rise despite weak earnings outlook
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By Amy Baldwin
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Investors resigned themselves to lackluster first-quarter earnings today and sent stocks moderately higher despite disappointing results from General Motors and Bank One.
"There aren't a lot of companies jumping for joy that business is great, but on the other hand, it is not overwhelmingly dismal as many expected. We are seeing a rally today and yesterday based on the fact that it may not be as bad as people thought," said Thomas Lydon Jr., president of Global Trends Investments in Newport Beach, Calif.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 51.26, or 0.6 percent, at 8,402.36, according to preliminary calculations. The Dow soared 147.69 yesterday, more than erasing the previous week's losses.
The market's broader gauges also advanced. The Nasdaq composite index rose 6.06, or 0.4 percent, to 1,391.01, after climbing 26.10 in the previous session. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 5.58, or 0.6 percent, to 890.81 following a gain of 16.93 yesterday.
After weeks of worrying about the war in Iraq, investors are once again focusing on earnings and the economy. While investors know that the war and the buildup to fighting had a negative impact on business, they are somewhat worried that companies have more fundamental problems and that the economy is still far from recovery.
"We're back to focusing on the economy and corporate numbers. And those things aren't really in great shape right now," said Stephen Carl, head of equity trading at the Williams Capital Group in New York.
But by allowing the market to build on yesterday's big rally, investors were indicating that they are braced for tepid earnings results and aren't going to unload shares.
Today's economic news was discouraging. The Federal Reserve reported industrial production fell in March by 0.5 percent, the weakest reading in three months and worse than the 0.2 percent decrease analysts were expecting.
Still, there were several gainers on Wall Street. IBM climbed $2.72 to $82.79 after posting first-quarter revenue that exceeded expectations.
US Bancorp rose 64 cents to $21.10 after UBS Warburg upgraded it to "buy" from "neutral."
But despite its better-than-expected first-quarter profits, General Motors fell 95 cents to $35.17 after warning it will miss its yearly earnings target.
Bank One declined 69 cents to $36.16 on first-quarter earnings that were a penny shy of Wall Street's estimate.
Ahead of their earnings due out later today, Microsoft fell 14 cents to $24.61, while Intel slipped 3 cents to $17.13.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 9 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was moderate.
The Russell 2000 index, the barometer of smaller company stocks, rose 1.99, or 0.5 percent, to 379.60.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average finished up 1.1 percent. France's CAC-40 gained 1.6 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.8 percent and Germany's DAX index advanced 2.1 percent.
