Microsoft soars 4% to pace a Dow industrials advance
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks opened higher Friday after better-than-expected quarterly results from top-shelf corporations including General Electric Co. and Microsoft Corp.
“Positive earnings surprises from Microsoft and General Electric appear to be lifting [equities],” noted Fred Dickson, chief investment strategist at Davidson Companies in emailed research. “While the market appears to be ignoring Europe today, the European problems have not disappeared.”
General Electric shares GE +0.89% rose 1.5% after the aircraft-engine manufacturer and financial-services provider reported earnings that topped Wall Street’s estimates.
Shares of Microsoft MSFT +4.78% advanced 4.2% after the software company said net income fell from the year-ago period, but its profit and sales topped Wall Street’s expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +0.63% rose 60.62 points, or 0.5%, to 13,024.72. The S&P 500 Index SPX +0.47% climbed 5.48 points, or 0.4%, to 1,382.40. The Nasdaq Composite COMP +0.60% advanced 8.56 points, or 0.3%, to 3,016.12.
Advancers ran ahead of decliners by a nearly 3-1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange, where 280 million shares traded as of 9:45 a.m. Eastern.
Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.
