(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks finished solidly higher on Wednesday after JPMorgan (
JPM) Chase announced earnings that blew past analyst estimates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 144.80 points or 1.47% to finish at 10,015.86. The S&P 500 jumped 18.83 points or 1.75% to end at 1,092.02. The Nasdaq Composite surged 32.34 points or 1.51% to 2,172.23.
Shares of financials rallied after J.P. Morgan Chase Inc. (NYSE:
JPM) said early Wednesday that its third-quarter earnings jumped to $3.6 billion, or 82 cents a share in the third quarter, compared to $527 million, or 9 cents a share a year ago. Revenue increased to $26.62 billion from $14.74 billion. Shares of the bank jumped $1.50 or 3.29% to $47.16.
Shares of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:
BAC) soared 78 cents or 4.38% to $18.59. Wells Fargo (NYSE:
WFC) surged $1.28 or 4.26% to $31.34.
Chemical maker DuPont (NYSE:
DD) gained $1.22 or 3.66% to $34.56.
Shares of equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:
CAT) surged $1.77 or 3.36% to $54.51.
Among drugmakers, shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:
PFE) jumped 59 cents or 3.52% to $17.37.
Energy stocks finished up. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:
XOM) climbed 1.58 or 2.25% to $71.84. Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) rallied $1.39 or 1.88% to $75.46.
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:
ABT) reported Wednesday that its third-quarter net income climbed to $1.48 billion or $0.95 per share, compared to $1.09 billion or $0.69 per share in the prior year quarter. Net earnings, excluding specified items, for the quarter were $1.43 billion or $0.92 per share, compared to $1.24 billion or $0.79 per share in the year ago quarter. Revenue rose to $7.76 billion from $7.50 billion in the prior year quarter. Abbott boosted its fiscal 2009 ongoing earnings forecast to a range of $3.70 to $3.72 per share, from prior range of $3.65 to $3.70 per share. Shares rose $1.55 or 3.12% to $51.20.
Grainger Inc. (NYSE:
GWW) on Wednesday said third-quarter net income rose 3% to $144.56 million, or $1.88 a share from $140.02 million, or $1.77 a share in the comparable period last year. Revenue dropped to $1.59 billion from $1.84 billion. Shares of the company fell $1.06 or 1.12% to $93.25
Late on Tuesday, Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:
INTC), the world's largest chip maker, reported third quarter earnings of $1.86 billion, or 33 cents a share, down 7.8% from $2.01 billion, or 35 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue dropped 8.1% to $9.39 billion. Looking ahead, Intel said that it expects fourth-quarter revenue of $9.7 billion to $10.5 billion. Shares gained 34 cents or 1.66% to $20.83.
Bloomberg LP said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy BusinessWeek magazine in order to expand its reach. The terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
On the economic front, a Department of Commerce release showed that retail sales fell 0.5% in September. Economists had forecast retail sales to decrease 2.1%.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that inventories fell 1.5 percent in August, more than the 0.9 percent fall that analysts had expected.
European stocks settled higher. The UK FTSE gained 101.95 points or 1.98% to 5,256.10. The German DAX and French CAC increased 2.45% and 2.14% respectively.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 fell 16.35 points or 0.16% to $10,060.21. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong rose 419.12 points or 1.95% to 21,886.48.
NYMEX crude oil for November delivery climbed 94 cents or 1.3% to settle at $74.21 a barrel.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
