IBM, Microsoft push Dow higher

NEW YORK – IBM and Microsoft drove the Dow Jones industrial average higher Friday after the tech giants reported stronger earnings than analysts expected.

Microsoft said sales of Xbox games and Office software helped push revenue up in the last quarter of 2011. IBM credited better sales of software and services and raised its earnings outlook for the year. Microsoft rose 6 percent and IBM rose 4 percent.

The Dow rose 96.50 points to close at 12,720.48. That’s a gain of 0.8 percent. Without the huge gains in IBM and Microsoft, the Dow would have risen just 24 points.

The S&P 500 index inched up 0.88 to 1,315.38.

Plenty of things are going right, said Frank Fantozzi, CEO of Planned Financial Services, an independent wealth manager in Cleveland. Applications for unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level in nearly four years. Housing sales are steadily rising. And most companies are reporting better profits.

“Overall, we’re moving in the right direction and it’s bolstered the market,” Fantozzi said. “The S&P getting over 1,300 this week is a nice sign.”

Google lost 8.4 percent after its earnings per share fell a dollar short of analysts’ estimates. The misfire stemmed from an 8 percent drop in prices that the Internet search giant charges advertisers for each click.

Google’s drop tugged the Nasdaq composite index lower. It fell 1.63 points to 2,786.70.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note crossed above 2 percent for the first time in two weeks. The yield, a widely used benchmark for corporate and consumer borrowing, had inched lower since early December as traders parked money in the safest of assets.

The National Association of Realtors said that home sales rose 5 percent in December, the third straight monthly increase.