Stocks rose on Wednesday, boosted by sliding oil prices and surging shares of Hewlett-Packard Co., which hit a four-year high on better-than-expected earnings and an upbeat outlook.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37.26, or 0.4 percent, to 10,550.71. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.90, or 0.1 percent, to 1,220.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 8.09, or 0.4 percent, to 2,145.15.
Crude futures for September delivery fell $2.83 to settle at $63.25 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, slipping nearly 6 percent from Friday’s record peak of $67.10. The drop still cheered investors enough to send stocks higher despite a rise in the July U.S. producer price index, which was up 1 percent, twice the rate of growth economists had expected.
And shares of Hewlett-Packard Co. posted their biggest percentage gain since November 2001 after the company’s third-quarter results beat analyst expectations. The company said it expects fourth-quarter revenue in the range of $22.4 billion to $22.8 billion, with earnings between 44 cents and 47 cents per share. Analysts were expecting 43 cents per share on sales of $22.7 billion.
Among local movers, shares of IMPCO Technologies Inc. rose 6.1 percent to $5.20 after the Cerritos-based manufacturer of alternative fuel products and systems announced it will supply Emission Certified LPG engines to the Anhui HELI Forklift Truck Group Corp., the largest lift truck manufacturer in China.
And Jamdat Mobile Inc. gained 1.4 percent to $20.41 after the L.A.-based wireless entertainment publisher’s stock was rated “buy” in new coverage by analyst Todd Rethemeier at Soleil Securities. The 12-month price target was set at $30 per share.
On the down side, shares of WPT Enterprises Inc. fell 3.3 percent to $14.56 after the L.A.-based owner of the World Poker Tour television show said it hired Las Vegas-based Piercy Bowler Taylor & Kern to serve as its new independent auditor. Its former auditor Deloitte and Touche LLP resigned on June 30.
And DaVita Inc. lost 1 percent to $47.06 after the El Segundo-based provider of dialysis services said a proposed rule by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would reduce its Medicare reimbursement by approximately $15 million to 20 million next year, and would have an impact on the Gambro Healthcare business it’s acquiring.
