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Stocks jump, helped by strong Wal-Mart and Cisco earnings

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U. S. stocks closed sharply higher Thursday, snapping a two-day losing streak. Investors cheered strong quarterly earnings from Wal-Mart Stores, Cisco Systems and others. Technology stocks accounted for much of the market’s gains, which helped lift the Nasdaq composite index to a record high.
U. S. stocks closed sharply higher Thursday, snapping a two-day losing streak.
Investors cheered strong quarterly earnings from Wal-Mart Stores, Cisco Systems and other companies. Technology stocks accounted for much of the market’s gains, which helped lift the Nasdaq composite index to its first record high in just over a week.
Healthcare companies and consumer product makers also posted solid gains. Energy and utilities stocks lagged. Oil prices declined.
The rally knocked the major stock indexes into positive territory for the month, as investors seized on the encouraging company earnings news to buy shares the day after the market suffered its worst decline in two months.
“Investors have been looking to buy on weakness, and they got a little bit of it,” said Erik Davidson, chief investment officer for Wells Fargo Private Bank. “The desire to buy in dips has been very, very strong, and we’ve seen a little bit of a dip.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 21.02 points to 2,585.64. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 187.08 points to 23,458.36. The Nasdaq climbed 87.08 points to 6,793.29. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks jumped 22.79 points to 1,486.88.
The major stock indexes were poised to rebound from the start of trading Thursday following solid gains in markets in Europe and Asia. Investors shrugged off the prior day’s doldrums and welcomed the latest batch of strong corporate earnings and outlooks.
Data storage company NetApp vaulted 15.9% to $53.11 — the biggest gainer in the S&P 500 — as investors applauded its quarterly results and forecasts. It was one of the reasons technology stocks posted some of the biggest gains.
Cisco Systems also delivered a bigger profit than analysts expected. The internet gear maker said revenue should grow in the current quarter after two years of declines. Cisco shares climbed 5.2% to $35.88, their biggest gain since February 2016.
Wal-Mart also got a big boost, jumping 10.9% to $99.62, its biggest gain since October 2008. In addition to posting strong third-quarter results, the retail giant raised its annual profit outlook.
A forecast for better full-year sales helped lift food company J. M. Smucker 9.5% to $116.65.
“We’ve had very good earnings from Amazon, Google, Nvidia, Tencent, just to name a few,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments. “Even with Wal-Mart you’re seeing a very strong reaction to the positives that are going on there.”
Best Buy, meanwhile, fell 3.6% to $55.25 after the electronics retailer’s latest quarterly results and holiday-season forecast fell short of estimates.
Investors also had their eye on Washington. Expectations of a big corporate tax cut have helped lift the market this year, though the House vote Thursday to pass a tax-overhaul package didn’t have much effect on stocks.
“To have a bit of positive news on tax reform is helpful, but there’s still a long way to go with that,” Martin said.
Procter & Gamble rose 1.2% to $89.25 after activist investor Nelson Peltz said an independent count showed he won election to the consumer products company’s board.
Time soared 28.1% to $16.20 after news reports that Meredith Corp. will make another offer for the magazine publisher.
In extended trading, Gap rose more than 6% after it reported a jump in quarterly profit that beat expectations. The clothier is expanding its Old Navy and Athleta brands and working to cut costs companywide.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.37% from 2.32%.
Energy prices declined. Benchmark U. S. crude fell 19 cents to $55.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 51 cents to $61.36 a barrel in London.
Wholesale gasoline fell 3 cents to $1.71 a gallon. Heating oil fell a penny to $1.90 a gallon. Natural gas fell 3 cents to $3.05 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold edged up 50 cents to $1,278.20 an ounce. Silver rose 10 cents to $17.07 an ounce. Copper fell 1 cent to $3.05 a pound.
The dollar strengthened to 112.98 yen from 112.89 yen. The euro weakened to $1.1765 from $1.1794.
Major stock indexes in Europe also notched gains Thursday. Germany’s DAX rose 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.7%, and Britain’s FTSE 100 picked up 0.2%.
Earlier in Asia, Japan led the region higher as its benchmark Nikkei 225 snapped a six-day losing streak and jumped 1.5%. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.7%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.6%. And Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2%.
UPDATES:
3:45 p.m.: This article was updated with closing prices, context and analyst comment.
This article was originally published at 8:20 a.m.

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