Wall Street buoyed by Kraft earnings figures

Dow Jones: 12,638.62 (+54.45) SP 500: 1,340.55 (+5.45) Nasdaq: 2,827.56 (+12.84):US STOCKS gained yesterday, as stronger than forecast growth in jobs bolstered confidence in the economy.

Kraft Foods, the world’s second-largest food company, and Fluor, the biggest publicly traded US construction company, climbed at least 2 per cent after beating earnings estimates.

DuPont and American Express rose at least 1.3 per cent to help lead gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Stocks trimmed gains after two people familiar with the situation said European finance officials are meeting in Luxembourg to discuss restructuring Greek debt.

Earlier, Der Spiegel magazine reported that ministers are convening an emergency meeting after Greece threatened to withdraw from the euro region.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 54.45 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 12,638.62.

The Standard Poor’s 500 Index was up 5.45 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 1,340.55.

The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 12.84 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 2,827.56.

“The jobs report was pretty solid,” said Russ Koesterich, the San Francisco-based global chief investment strategist for the IShares unit of BlackRock.

“It gave people more conviction that the economic recovery is still on pace. Investors started to doubt the sustainability of the rebound and commodities naturally took the hit. The rally is a partial reversal of that sentiment. There’s more room for stocks to move higher during the course of the year,” he said.

Gauges of energy and raw-material companies fell more than 4.4 per cent through yesterday to lead the SP 500’s retreat from an almost three-year high.

The plunge in commodity shares led the index to a 2.1 per cent retreat over the first four days of this week. Including yesterday’s rebound, the index is up 6.6 per cent this year amid higher than forecast profits and government stimulus efforts.

Payrolls increased by 244,000 workers last month, the biggest rise since May 2010, after a revised 221,000 gain the prior month, the Labor Department said.

Economists projected an April rise of 185,000, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. – (Bloomberg/Reut- ers)