Wall Street stocks closed higher on Tuesday, as the Dow Jones index reached fresh two-year highs, with markets boosted by strong earnings from firms including software giant Adobe. "The major stock averages are enjoying some holiday cheer," said Scott Marcouiller from Wells Fargo Advisors. "Positive earnings from Adobe Systems and Jabil Circuit and corporate deal-making have put helped pushed the Dow and Nasdaq to new highs."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 55.03 points (0.48 percent) to close at 11,533.16, while the S&P 500 index, a broader measure of the market, gained 7.52 points (0.60 percent) to 1,254.60, their highest level since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.
The tech-rich Nasdaq rose 18.05 points (0.68 percent) to 2,667.61, its highest level in three years. Adobe, the maker of Photoshop, Flash and Acrobat programs, saw its shares rise six percent after it reported late on Monday that it had earned 269 million dollars in its last quarter, beating forecasts on the street.
And electronics company Jabil Circuit's stocks soared 10.7 percent after also reporting stronger than expected quarterly earnings. TD Bank's US-traded shares jumped 3.5 percent after it said it will purchase Chrysler Financial Corp for 6.3 billion dollars, in the latest acquisition of a US bank by a Canadian bank.
The financial sector also saw gains, with Bank of America, the largest US bank in assets, gaining merely 2.9 percent, Wells Fargo rising 2.4 percent, J.P. Morgan gaining 2.6 percent and Goldman Sachs rising 1.3 percent. Confidence in the battered European economy was given a shot in the arm after China expressed support for EU measures to tackle the eurozone debt crisis.
But at the same time, Moody's warned over a possible ratings downgrade for Portugal over its massive debt. After Greece and Ireland had to be salvaged by massive international bailouts, other European members, mainly Portugal, Spain, Belgium and even Italy are considered at risk of crisis in 2011. The bond market rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bonds declined to 3.33 percent from 3.35 percent on Monday, while that of the 30-year bond were down to 4.43 percent from 4.46 percent. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
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