Wall Street rallies on positive earnings, home sales
Wall Street rallied on Thursday on better-than-expected earnings and data on home sales with all major indexes jumping more than 2 percent.The Dow Jones Industrial Average topped the 9,000 mark for the first time since January. The blue-chip index rose 188.03 points, or 2.12 percent, to close at 9,069.29. The S&P 500 was up 22.22 points, or 2.33 percent to settle at 976.29. While the Nasdaq logged its 12th straight gain, its longest run since 1992, rising 47.22 points, or 2.45 percent to 1973.60. Investors were encouraged by a batch of better-than-expected corporate earnings. EBay, owner of the most visited U.S. E-commerce website, rallied over 10 percent as its earnings signaled consumers' appetite for online commerce is starting to recover. Ford Motors rose 9.4 percent to 6.98 U.S. dollars per share after it posted a much smaller loss than expected and beat analyst estimates. Dow component 3M jumped 7.36 percent to 69.43 dollars as it reported a 17 percent drop in quarterly profit but reduced its loss forecast for the year. Beside corporate reports, investors also digested data on the labor market for more clues on the health of the economy. The U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday that its tally of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 554,000. That was above analysts' estimates of 550,000. But the total jobless benefit rolls fell by a more-than-expected 88,000 to 6.2 million, the lowest level since mid-April. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that existing home sales rose 3.6 percent last month, providing further evidence that the housing market may be recovering.