Thread: DOW RETAKES 11,000 - WAS 7,000 A YEAR AGO

APRIL 12, 2010, 4:50 P.M. ET.

Dow Retakes 11,000

By PETER A. MCKAY

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 11,000 for the first time since late-September 2008 amid hopes for a strong earnings season and weakness in the dollar.

The blue-chip measure edged up 8.62 points to end at 11,005.97, helped by a 1.3% gain in component Alcoa. The aluminum maker's quarterly earnings announcement is expected shortly and will mark the symbolic start of the the broader profit-reporting on Wall Street.

While the Dow managed to pierce 11000, the S&P 500 faltered around a key level. The broad index hit an intraday high less than a point from 1200 before ending at 1196.48, up 0.2% amid gains in six of its 10 sectors.

Optimism about the earnings season has been simmering for weeks, fueling major averages to new 18-month highs. At the same time, however, they've often seemed to struggle around milestones, with some traders taking short-term profits ahead of breakthroughs to new levels.

Reuters
."Company by company, things seem to be pretty good and improving, but on the macro level there are still big concerns out there," said John Apruzzese, a partner and portfolio manager at Evercore Wealth Management. "You still have concerns about government debt, unemployment, and issues with the euro and Greece, even though that seems to be partially resolved."

Nick Kalivas, strategist and vice president of financial research at MF Global, said investors are in a "wait-and-see mode," in part because of wariness of round-number levels. "There's a lack of a catalyst before the earnings to kind of whoop through these levels," he said. "People are waiting for the earnings this week and some of the economic data this week before they take any kind of new positions."

Other indexes crept higher. The Russell 2000 was up 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.2%, helped by a 17.1% surge in Palm shares after Bloomberg News reported that the smartphone maker has hired advisors to explore a potential sale.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's Volatility Index, a key measure of investor nervousness about upcoming market swings, fell 3.5% to 15.57, its lowest settle since July 2007.

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.The dollar rose against the yen, but fell against the euro, which strengthened following Sunday's news that euro-zone nations are willing to lend Greece €30 billion ($40.49 billion), with the countries also agreeing to lend the money at an interest rate of close to 5%, below the rate Greece now would pay on the open market. Greece hasn't asked for the aid to be delivered amid hopes it will be able to return to the bond market.

Meanwhile Chinese officials said the country ran its first monthly trade deficit during March in six years, as a surge in imports outpaced exports and commodities prices rose.

Several financial bellwethers rallied. Bank of America rose 0.4% after reporting that it added about 12,000 customers to the ranks of borrowers completing mortgage modifications under the federal government's assistance program for home owners struggling to meet their payments.

American depositary shares of UBS rose 4.4% after the Swiss banking giant said it expects to swing to a first-quarter pretax profit of at least 2.5 billion Swiss francs ($2.4 billion), against a loss of around 1.5 billion francs a year earlier.

Commodity prices were mixed. Oil futures slipped for a fourth straight day, ending 58 cents higher at $84.34 a barrel, down 2.9% over the recent losing streak. Gold futures rose for a second straight session, up 50 cents to a new 2010 high of $1,161.60 a troy ounce.

Treasury prices rose, with the benchmark 10-year note up 8/32 to yield 3.849%.

—Kristina Peterson contributed to this article.
Write to Peter A. McKay at peter.mckay@dowjones.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... Collection

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