Blue-chip stocks jumped yesterday as investors shifted their gaze to a slim raft of good news, extending the market's vacillating reaction in recent weeks to the barrage of corporate-earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 163.58 points, or 1.60 per cent, to 10,404.70, according to the latest data. The technology-loaded Nasdaq Composite Index added 24.75 points to 1,983.99. The diversified Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 18.77 points to 1,190.42.
Wednesday's jump by blue-chip shares just about made up heavy losses in the previous trading session, providing more evidence the market is trading largely on day-to-day news, with no clear broader themes emerging.
Wall Street reacted positively to the latest earnings and a Lehman Brothers' upgrade of Lucent Technologies from "neutral" to "strong buy" helped the struggling telecommunications-gear maker rise 25 cents to $6.67.
Lingering nervousness was evident in the high-tech sector, however, where data storage makers were hit after Salomon Smith Barney cut its rating on several companies in the sector.
