Stocks Up on HP, Home Construction

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– National

Stocks rose Thursday, buoyed by Hewlett-Packard Co.’s earnings, a surprising jump in home construction and more positive comments from the Federal Reserve. The Dow posted a new 4 1/2-year high on a late surge in trading.


The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 61.71, or 0.6 percent, to 11,120.68. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 9.38, or 0.7 percent, to 1,289.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 18.20, or 0.8 percent, to 2,294.63.


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– Local


Local movers were led by Occidental Petroleum Corp., which gained 3.1 percent to $88.68, and CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., which rose 2.3 percent to $69.53. On the down side, Arden Group Inc. fell 1.9 percent to $88.33 and Molina Healthcare Inc. lost 4.3 percent to $29.25.


Shares of Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. jumped 5.1 percent to $82.12 after the L.A.-based metals services company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.81 per share that beat the average analyst estimate of $1.78. Its first-quarter earnings outlook of $1.90 to $2 per share was way above the consensus of $1.59.


Guess Inc. plunged 13.1 percent o $40.15 after the L.A.-based casual apparel company warned of modest first-quarter sales growth. The company expects total sales to rise in the mid-teen percentage range, a slower rate of growth than in the last couple of quarters. Analysts expected first-quarter revenue growth of about 16 percent higher than a year earlier.


Guitar Center Inc. slumped 9.8 percent to $50.77 a day after the Westlake Village-based musical instrument retailer forecast 2006 earnings below analysts’ average forecast. Guitar Center said after Wednesday’s market close that it expects full-year earnings of $2.72 to $2.98 per share, below the average estimate of $3.01 per share.

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