Earnings Drive Dow Up 73

Mixed last day can't beat strong month

(NEWSER) - The markets were mixed today but wrapped up a strong month. The Dow, which fell 17.61 points to close at 8168.12, rose 7.4% in April, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow has risen 15.65% in two months—its best two-month showing since 2002 and the start of the last bull market, the Journal notes. The Nasdaq, which gained 5.36 to 1,717.30, is up 25% in the same span. The S&P 500 fell 0.83 to 872.81 but rose 9.4% in April and is up 19% since March. More»

Weekly declines inflated by Friday sell-off

(NEWSER) - Poor earnings dragged the markets down today, as consumers’ reluctance to spend continues to hammer firms reliant on discretionary spending, MarketWatch reports. The day's losses capped weekly declines of at least 5% for all the indices. The Dow fell 337.94 to close at 8,497. The Nasdaq lost 79.85 points, settling at 1,517, while the S&P 500 shed 38.00 points to close at 873.29. More»

Weekly losses for Dow and S&P

(NEWSER) - Stocks erased morning gains on poor consumer spending news to wrap up today's session in negative territory. The Dow and the S&P 500 racked up weekly losses of 1.2% and 1.1%, Bloomberg reports. The Dow fell 86.38 today to close at 12,216.08. The Nasdaq fell 19.65 to 2,261.18, and the S&P 500 fell 10.54 to 1,315.22. More»

It's Dow's best finish since 2008

(NEWSER) - Today's rosy jobs report did wonders for the markets. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, in fact, closed at an 11-year high, reports MarketWatch , while the Dow finished at its highest level since May 2008, notes the Wall Street Journal . The numbers:

• Dow: Up 157, 1.2%, to 12,862
• Nasdaq: Up 46, 1.6%, to 2,906
• S&P 500: Up 19, 1.5%, to 1,345

Market has its best day this month

(AP) - Encouraging signs out of Europe and a surprisingly strong report on the US housing market drove the Dow Jones industrial average up more than 330 points today. It was the best day for stocks this month. The Spanish government pulled off a successful debt auction, and gauges of business and consumer confidence in Germany rose unexpectedly. The Commerce Department, meanwhile, said builders broke ground on 685,000 new homes last month, a 9.3% jump from October. That's the highest level since April 2010. More»