Dell earnings bolster US stock markets

February 17, 2011 | 10:23
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Solid earnings from computer maker Dell helped lift US stock markets Wednesday and as traders also welcomed an upbeat economic assessment from the Federal Reserve.

Setting the tone for the day, Dell's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings nearly tripled as the computer maker reported strong demand from corporate customers -- an indicator of economic revival -- and lower component prices.

Its shares were up nearly 12 per cent. Later in the day the market was buoyed by news that the Fed sharply increased its growth estimates for this year, predicting gross domestic product would rise by 3.4 to 3.9 per cent, versus the 3.0 to 3.6 per cent predicted last November.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 60.47 points (0.49 per cent) to 12,287.1 in closing trades, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 21.21 points (0.76 per cent) to 2,825.56.

The broad-market S&P 500 index gained 8.14 points (0.61 per cent) at 1,336.15.

Stocks were up broadly, with American Airlines and JPMorgan Chase both up over two percent as the market refused to be shaken by still-anemic US housing data, which showed building starts had bounced modestly off lows seen in the last year, but requests for construction permits sank.

Meanwhile US industrial production fell 0.1 per cent between December and January, a drop blamed by some analysts on wintry weather, which "hampered industrial demand for gas and electricity," according to David Resler of Nomura.

AFP

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