US stocks advance on higher earnings, energy prices

NEW YORK – Stocks resumed their advance after investors got the numbers they wanted from first-quarter earnings reports. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 25 points Tuesday for its eighth gain in nine days. Broader indexes posted bigger percentage increases after a mixed finish Monday. Investors set aside some concerns about the government's civil fraud case against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and looked to profit numbers. Beyond those reports, a bounce in the price of crude oil after a two-week slide helped energy stocks. Harley-Davidson Inc., industrial equipment maker Illinois Tool Works Inc., and regional bank Marshall & Ilsley Corp. rose after reporting earnings. Goldman Sachs said its first-quarter profit nearly doubled on higher trading revenue. However, the stock fell 2 percent on concerns about the company's legal troubles. After the closing bell, Apple Inc. said its first-quarter profit jumped 90 percent after it sold more of its iPhone smart phones. The stock rose about 6 percent in electronic trading after ending the regular session lower. Futures contracts for the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 index rose 0.6 percent following Apple's report. James Meyer, chief investment officer at Tower Bridge Advisors in Conshohocken, Pa., said stocks aren't as likely to leap higher because expectations have risen. "We all know now that the economy is recovering at a rate that is faster than we thought two or three weeks ago and the market has adjusted," Meyer said. He said that could bring more volatility in the coming weeks when investors start looking for something else to move the market. Stocks have rocketed higher since major indexes hit 12-year lows more than 13 months ago. Tuesday's advance extended a streak of steady gains seen in the past two months. Improving economic and earnings reports have given investors more confidence that the economy will mount a sustained recovery. The Dow rose 25.01, or 0.2 percent, to 11,117.06. A drop in shares of IBM Corp. following its earnings report held the Dow to a more modest advance than other indexes. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 9.65, or 0.8 percent, to 1,207.17. The Nasdaq composite index advanced 20.20, or 0.8 percent, to 2,500.31. Four stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 5.3 billion shares, compared with 6.6 billion Monday. The Dow rose 73 points Monday after being lower throughout much of the day on concerns about the fallout from the charges against Goldman. Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management in Philadelphia, said the market climbed with little break ahead of the earnings reports so a slowdown isn't unexpected. "We got paid ahead for this earnings period," Stone said. Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was unchanged at 3.80 percent from late Monday. The dollar was mixed and gold rose. Crude oil for May delivery rose $2 to $83.45 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil has fallen in eight of the past nine trading days since reaching $87 per barrel. Disruptions to air travel from the volcanic eruption in Iceland is hurting demand for jet fuel. Analysts said that the rise in stocks was a sign that the market's slow grind higher is continuing after a slide Friday. The market fell after the Securities and Exchange Commission said Goldman Sachs failed to tell clients about conflicts of interest in mortgage investments it sold. Goldman has denied wrongdoing and vowed to fight the charges. Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at Channel Capital Research in Shrewsbury, N.J., said the market is able to resume its climb in part because the government has flooded the financial system with so much cash that some of it ends up in stocks. Goldman Sachs fell $3.34, or 2.1 percent, to $159.98. Illinois Tool rose $1.90, or 3.9 percent, to $50.71, while Marshall & Ilsley rose 90 cents, or 10.7 percent, to $9.31. Harley-Davidson advanced $2.40, or 7.3 percent, to $35.17. Apple said it sold nearly 9 million iPhones for the three months that ended March 27, more than double the number from a year earlier. Its revenue and earnings far outstripped expectations. Shares of Apple rose $14.52, or 5.9 percent, to $259.12 in after-hours trading. It slid $2.48, or 1 percent, to $244.59 in regular trading. IBM fell $2.54, or 1.9 percent, to $129.69 after investors shrugged off earnings from late Monday that came in slightly ahead of analyst' expectations. IBM posted the biggest drop of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow. Exxon Mobil Corp. rose 74 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $68.97 after the rise in oil. Schlumberger Ltd., which provides services to oil companies, rose $2.61, or 4 percent, to $67.85. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 10.15, or 1.4 percent, to 721.55. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 1.7 percent, and France's CAC-40 gained 1.4 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.1 percent. — AP