Financial, energy, tech shares lead indexes up

Dow Jones:12,170.49 (+101.79) Nasdaq:2,727.49 (+32.24) S&P 500:1,275.92 (+14.80)

US STOCKS rose yesterday, sending the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index higher a second day. All 10 groups in the SP 500 advanced as financial, energy and technology companies rallied at least 1.1 per cent.

JPMorgan Chase, Occidental Petroleum and Intel added more than 1.9 per cent. A gauge of homebuilders in SP indexes jumped 3.8 per cent as Toll Brothers rose 7.4 per cent after the luxury-home builder said revenue increased.

The KBW Bank Index rose 2.4 per cent, reversing an earlier loss of as much as 0.1 per cent. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index added 1.2 per cent on speculation that steps taken by European leaders to solve their debt crisis will avert a global recession.

The Dow Jones transportation average of 20 stocks gained 1.2 per cent. JPMorgan Chase advanced 2.3 per cent to $35.02. Occidental Petroleum climbed 2.8 per cent to $101.29. Intel rose 1.9 per cent to $24.75.

Toll Brothers gained 7.4 per cent to $19.43, the highest level since August. Homebuilding revenue for the three months ended October 31st rose to $427.7 million from $402.6 million a year earlier, the Pennsylvania company said in a statement.

Priceline.com surged 8.6 per cent, the most in the SP 500, to $552.85. The biggest US online travel agency reported third-quarter profit and sales topped analyst estimates.

Excluding some costs, profit was $9.95 a share.

Rockwell Automation jumped 6.5 per cent to $74.33 after the maker of factory-automation software projected 2012 sales growth that may exceed analysts’ estimates on demand from automobile, food and beverage producers.

DryShips advanced 9.9 per cent to $2.99. The Greek owner of deep-water drilling rigs and vessels that haul iron ore and coal reported third-quarter earnings excluding some items of 16 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate by 13 per cent.

Activision Blizzard added 1.4 per cent to $13.93. The world's largest video-game maker released its eighth Call of Dutygame, Modern Warfare 3.

The S&P 500’s failure to keep pace with record corporate earnings may signal the benchmark equity gauge will surge if it returns to its historical relationship with profits. – (Bloomberg)