Stocks rally, capping best week for S
new york — Stocks rallied Friday, capping the best week since February for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, after companies from Citigroup Inc. to Google Inc. to Caterpillar Inc. posted results that topped analysts’ estimates.
The market climbed after Citigroup’s loss was less than the most pessimistic projections and profits at Google and Caterpillar were boosted by overseas growth. Honeywell International Inc. and Xerox Corp. also advanced on better-than-forecast results.
The S&P 500 added 24.77 to 1,390.33. The Dow Jones industrial average rallied 228.87 to 12,849.36, a three-month high. The Nasdaq composite index increased 61.14 to 2,402.97.
Citigroup increased $1.08, or 4.5 percent, to $25.11. The bank said revenue fell 48 percent to $13.2 billion, topping the average estimate of $11.1 billion from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Bank of America Corp. rallied $1.09 to $38.56. JPMorgan Chase & Co. climbed 64 cents to $45.76.
Google rallied $89.87, or 20 percent, to $539.41, the most since its August 2004 initial public offering and the biggest gain in the S&P 500 payday loans online.
Caterpillar rose $6.69 to $85.28, its steepest rally in more than seven years and the biggest gain in the Dow average.
Honeywell International Inc. climbed $3.59 to $60.99. The world’s largest maker of cockpit displays said first-quarter earnings rose 22 percent.
Schlumberger Ltd., the world’s biggest oilfield contractor, added $6.55 to $101.85. The company said first-quarter profit rose 13 percent. Oil climbed $1.73 to settle at $116.59 a barrel in New York trading. Exxon Mobil Corp. rose 62 cents to $94, its highest price of the year.
Xerox Corp. added 7 cents to $14.57.
ETrade Financial Corp. rose 35 cents to $3.97.
Newmont Mining Corp. slid $1.25, or 2.6 percent, to $46.27 after gold futures tumbled.
Filed under: technology by Wolf