– National
Moderate inflation and falling oil prices energized Wall Street Wednesday, sending stocks higher as investors grew optimistic about an end to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 68.11, or 0.6 percent, to 11,137.17. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 9.63, or 0.8 percent, to 1,292.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 20.21, or 0.9 percent, to 2,283.17.
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– Local
Local movers were led by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., which gained 4.1 percent to $86.94, and Macerich Co., which rose 2.6 percent to $72.87. On the down side, UTI Worldwide Inc. fell 2.5 percent to $101.27 and Occidental Petroleum Corp. lost 1.6 percent to $90.38.
Shares of KB Home rose 3.2 percent to $70.12 after the homebuilder announced plans to expand its agreement with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. to design and create more Martha Stewart-inspired neighborhoods in communities around the country. The first 650 model homes in Cary, N.C., are set to open on March 12. The second community is due to open in Atlanta in late spring 2006. Other developments are also planned.
Cathay General Bancorp edged up 3.4 percent to $36.10 after the L.A.-based holding company for Cathay Bank said late Tuesday that it reached an agreement to buy Great Eastern Bank for $58.44 per share, or about $101 million. The deal ends a bidding war between Cathay and Chinese-American bank UCBH Holdings Inc., parent of United Commercial Bank.
Herbalife Ltd. plunged 13.6 percent to $30.45 a day after reporting that it had swung to a fourth-quarter profit on higher-than-expected sales. But the L.A.-based maker of nutritional products also warned its first-quarter profit could come in below analyst estimates.
