Investors put their interest rate worries on hold and sent stocks higher Wednesday after strong earnings reports from Time Warner Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co. restored some of the market’s flagging confidence, the Associated Press reports.
Time Warner’s $1 billion profit, compared to a loss a year ago, exceeded the market’s expectations and gave hope to investors disappointed with the media sector’s recent performance. A strong showing from P & G;, the consumer products company, assuaged fears of a drop in consumer spending.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 74.20, or 0.67 percent, to 11,199.93. Broader stock indicators also moved higher. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 7.63, or 0.6 percent, to 1,278.55, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 16.82, or 0.82 percent, to 2,078.81.
Read the full Associated Press story
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Winners & Losers
Enova Systems finished the day up 34.4 percent to $5 while ValueClick Inc. gained 23.3 percent to close at $17.33 and On Assignment Inc. finished the day up 17.1 percent to close at $10.
On the other side were Keystone Automotive, who missed estimates despite a 30 percent jump in profits and still lost 16 percent to close the day at $35.06. J2 Global Communications, who also reported double-digit growth in profit, finished down 8.9 percent to $25.51 while Herbalife finished down 8.2 percent to close at $33.
