Stocks resume week's rally
NEW YORK -- Stocks resumed the week's rally today as Wall Street drew confidence from strong earnings from Oracle Corp. The expiration of options and futures contracts made for heavy trading.
After the market closed Thursday, Oracle reported a 25 percent jump in its quarterly profit and said its software sales accelerated at the fastest pace in seven years. Nike Inc. also cheered investors late Thursday, when the athletic shoe and clothing company said its quarterly profit rose by 51 percent.
The pair of earnings reports served as a positive sign that despite the recent market turmoil and apparent slowdown in consumer spending, many companies are still thriving.
Some mixed earnings reports, along with a weak dollar and record-high oil prices, contributed to a dip Thursday in the stock market. But, over all, Wall Street is trading more optimistically this week than it has in a while, following the Federal Reserve's half-point interest rate cut Tuesday.
In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 81.53, or 0.59 percent, to 13,848.23.
Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 9.55, or 0.63 percent, to 1,528.30, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 16.84, or 0.63 percent, to 2,671.13.
Friday's session brought "triple-witching," a once-a-quarter occurrence when investors face simultaneous expiration of contracts for stock index futures, index options and stock options. Such days usually bring higher-than-normal volume _ particularly within the first and final hours of trading _ as investors jockey for new positions.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners about 5 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a heavy 761.6 million shares.
Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.66 percent from Thursday's close of 4.69 percent. Treasurys have sold off for three straight sessions amid concerns about the possibility of increasing inflation and the prospect of Saudi Arabia lightening its U.S. government holdings. The gains on Wall Street have also drained some money out of the bond market.
Crude oil futures for November rose 33 cents to $82.11 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Thursday, the October contract, now expired, closed at an all-time high above $83 a barrel.
Gold prices rose, while the dollar bounced back after hitting another record low against the euro, which surpassed $1.41 for the first time.
There are no major economic reports scheduled to be released Friday. Instead, Wall Street's focus is on corporate news and speeches by Fed officials, including Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser.
In corporate news, Oracle rose 90 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $21.94, while Nike rose 57 cents to $58.89 following their quarterly reports.
The Finnish paper and forest products company Stora Enso Oyj is selling its North American unit for about $2.1 billion (?1.49 billion) to NewPage Holding Corp., an Ohio-based coated paper producer owned by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 3.81, or 0.47 percent, to 813.57.