US stocks end higher
A late rebound gave Wall Street modest gains today as two acquisitions and upbeat earnings from Hewlett-Packard helped lift the major indexes to four-year highs.
Lower oil prices also eased worries about consumer spending ahead of the holiday shopping season. But many analysts remain split over whether the stock market will have its usual year-end rally, and trading has become erratic as mixed economic and earnings data has left investors wondering about the economy’s health.
“You’ve had a pretty good run off the October bottoms,” said Russ Koesterich, senior portfolio manager at Barclays Global Investments. “But there really are no major catalysts to help support the market coming into these levels.
“You don’t want to read too much into a Friday of late November,” he added.
Crude futures fell to five-month lows although the approaching winter weather still has many concerned about oil and gas supplies. A barrel of light crude dropped 20 cents to settle at 56.14 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 46.11, or 0.43%, to 10,766.33, after retreating from a 76-point gain earlier in the day.
Broader stock indicators reached their highest levels since mid-2001. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 5.47, or 0.44%, at 1,248.27, and the Nasdaq composite rose 6.61, or 0.3%, to 2,227.07.
