October 23, 2009
Wall Street rallied on Thursday, as better-than-estimated earnings from Travelers Cos., AT&T Inc. and McDonald's Corp. overshadowed a bigger-than-forecast increase in jobless claims.
Upbeat earnings from Dow components, such as AT&T Inc., Travelers Cos. and McDonald's Corp., boosted the Dow Jones average.
AT&T Inc., the biggest U.S. phone company, climbed more than 1 percent and led telecom stocks higher after reporting a third-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates.
Travelers Cos. boosted its quarterly dividend by 10 percent and said it may increase share buybacks after posting its first profit gain since 2007.
McDonald's Corp., the world's largest fast-food company, said third-quarter profit rose 5.9 percent as global sales increased more than analysts' anticipation.
On economic data, the U.S. Labor Department reported that initial jobless applications rose by 11,000 to 531,000 last week, from a revised nine-month low of 520,000 in the prior week. The increase exceeded economists' estimates.
However, the Conference Board's gauge of the economic outlook for the next three to six months climbed a greater-than-forecast 1percent, indicating the economy is likely to expand into early 2010.
Conference Board, a New York-based private research group, said the increase marks the biggest six-month gain in 26 years, topping analysts' expectations.
The Dow Jones rose 131.95, or 1.33 percent, to 10,081.31. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 11.51, or 1.06 percent, to 1,081.09 and the Nasdaq rose 14.56 to 2,165.29.