Oracle profits push stocks higher
NEW YORK – Stocks finished higher Thursday as investors set aside some concerns about downbeat economic reports and focused on strong profits from Oracle Corp.
Corporate results and economic news offered investors a mixed picture and kept stocks fluctuating throughout much of the session.
Oracle Corp.’s upbeat results poked holes in Wall Street’s recent pessimism, and even a report from Bear Stearns Cos. of its first-ever quarterly loss seemed to offer relief to those fearing its results could have been worse.
Economic news appeared to weigh on investors at times, however. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve said at midday that its index of regional business conditions showed a reading of a negative 5.7, down sharply from a positive 8.2 in November.
While investors ultimately seemed to look beyond the economic news, Sean Simko, head of fixed income management SEI Investments, said Wall Street’s recent moves aren’t showing much conviction given relatively light trading volumes.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 38.37, or 0.29 percent, to 13,245.64.
Broader stock indicators also gained. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 7.12, 0.49 percent, to 1,460.12, and Oracle’s results helped push the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index up 39.85, or 1.53 percent, to 2,640.86.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 9 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.38 billion shares compared with 1.35 billion shares traded Wednesday.
The report from Bear Stearns came a day after Morgan Stanley said an investment arm of the Chinese government had agreed to invest $5 billion in the company.
The news calmed some fears that Wall Street’s major players would face severe liquidity crunches as banks worldwide continue to refrain from lending to each other amid concerns about souring debt tied to mortgages.
Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at Channel Capital Research, contends the ability of banks like Morgan Stanley and earlier Citigroup Inc. to arrange cash infusions from well-healed foreign governments appeared to quiet some of Wall Street’s unease.
While Wall Street heads toward holiday-shortened weeks that often bring little action, stocks could still see volatility, particularly given the expiration of options contracts Friday. Known as “quadruple witching,” it marks the expiration of contracts for stock index futures, stock index options, stock options and single stock futures.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 11.41, or 1.51 percent, to 767.54.
The dollar rose against other most major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.01 percent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.05 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.97 percent, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.41 percent and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.26 percent.