US stocks rose sharply on Friday as a strong profit from Google Inc fuelled a rally in the technology sector and as Citigroup Inc gave investors hope the credit crisis was nearing an end. Adding to investor enthusiasm, robust international sales helped manufacturers Honeywell International and Caterpillar Inc post stronger-than-expected earnings.
The two Dow components helped lift the blue chip index to a three-month high. Citigroup's loss was larger than expected, investors took comfort that the bank and its new chief executive, Vikram Pandit, are taking steps to get past credit problems, drive down expenses and restore lustre to a stock down by about half over the last year. Citi's shares jumped 7.3 percent to $25.78.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 252.56 points, or 2.00 percent, at 12,873.05. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 28.18 points, or 2.06 percent, at 1,393.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 68.39 points, or 2.92 percent, at 2,410.22.
Google, Caterpillar and Honeywell helped improve investor sentiment about the first-quarter earnings picture. The earnings season had got off to a rough start last week, with disappointments from Alcoa Inc and General Electric Co. Google's stock soared 21.3 percent to $545.17 on the Nasdaq. Analysts at six brokerages, including Merrill Lynch and Oppenheimer, raised their share price targets on Google.
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