Dell, Deals Drive Dow to New Highs

By Matt Egan
Published February 16, 2011
FOXBusiness
Reuters

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Returning from a rare two-day break, the bulls bid Wall Street to fresh two and-a-half-year highs on Wednesday as new deal-making and earnings beats from Dell and Deere inspired the markets.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 61.53 points, or 0.50%, to 12288.17, the Standard & Poor's 500 gained 8.31 points, or 0.63%, to 1336.32 and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 21.21 points, or 0.76%, to 2825.56. The FOX 50 added 4.57 points, or 0.48%, to 949.76.

After largely overcoming the Egyptian crisis earlier this month, Wall Street managed to similarly shrug off a brief scare on Wednesday after crude oil neared $86 a barrel after Israel said Iranian warships transited the Suez Canal for the first time in decades. Similarly, traders didn't seem fazed by new data showing underlying wholesale prices in the U.S. rose by the most in two years, focusing instead on a surprise surge in housing starts.

“I am so shocked about the way the market absorbed the Egyptian crisis. Couple that with these earnings, there is nothing to hold the market back,â€