NEW YORK: US stocks soared Wednesday, with the Dow closing near three-year highs, on strong earnings reports that beat Wall Street expectations, particularly in the technology sector.
After starting the day with a triple-digit bang, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 186.79 points (1.52 percent) to finish the session at 12,453.54.
It was the highest closing level for the blue-chip index since June 5, 2008.
The Nasdaq Composite leaped 57.54 points (2.10 percent) to 2,802.51.
"Stocks shot higher out of the gate this morning, with yet another blowout blue-chip earnings report sparking a wave of buying pressure," said Elizabeth Harrow at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
"Right on the heels of an upside surprise from Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday, it was tech titan Intel's turn to storm the earnings stage today."
Solid earnings from Dow blue chips Intel, IBM and United Technologies, and from Internet giant Yahoo!, helped to ignite buying in the Easter holiday-shortened week. The markets will be closed Friday.
The S&P 500 index, a broader measure of the markets, advanced 17.74 points (1.35 percent) to 1,330.36.
Computer chip giant Intel, reporting forecast-busting earnings after the market closed Tuesday, dismissed gloomy forecasts for personal computer sales and predicted growth of more than 10 percent this year and in 2012.
Intel led the Dow gainers, soaring 7.8 percent to $21.41.
Yahoo! leaped 4.7 percent to $16.87, while IBM slipped 0.4 percent to $164.75.
Apple joined the tech rally, adding 1.3 percent at $342.41 ahead of its post-market earnings report.
Soaring crude prices on the back of a weaker dollar lifted Dow energy heavyweights. ExxonMobil added 2.2 percent at $85.65 and Chevron gained 2.3 percent at $107.81.
Among stocks in focus, United Technologies rose 4.3 percent to $85.90. The industrial conglomerate beat earnings estimates and raised its forecast for the rest of the year.
AT&T was up 0.8 percent at $26.74. "Ma Bell" reported a 39 percent jump in first-quarter earnings, in line with Wall Street expectations, and two million new cellphone customers.
Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com said investors were looking past potential risks from macroeconomic conditions, including political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
"The unspoken, but clear message in the body of earnings reports is that the macro noise of unrest in the MENA region, Japan's earthquake, spikes in commodity prices, and sovereign debt concerns have not undercut business activity in the manner many have been fearing," he said.
Investors also had better-than-expected news on the depressed US housing market.
The National Association of Realtors reported sales of previously owned homes, the dominant sector of the housing market, rose 3.7 percent in March.
"Existing-home sales have risen in six of the past eight months, so we're clearly on a recovery path," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.
The bond market weakened. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.40 percent from 3.35 percent late Tuesday, while that on the 30-year Treasury increased to 4.45 percent from 4.43 percent.
Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
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