Blue Chips Soar 173.35

By STEVEN RUSSOLILLO

Stocks soared as worries about Ireland's debt situation eased. General Motors' shares rose in the auto maker's return to the Big Board.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 173.35 points, or 1.6%, to 11181.23, marking the blue-chip index's first gain in three days. Alcoa led the Dow's rally, jumping 3.4%, while Boeing also rose 3.4% and Caterpillar added 2.4%.


Markets Hub: Stocks Rally on Ireland, GM
3:39

Stocks rally across the globe, as a bailout edges closer for the Irish, and GM comes back to the public market. But in both cases, large questions remain. Steve Russolillo, John Shipman and Paul Vigna report.
.The Standard & Poor's 500-share index gained 18.10 points, or 1.5%, to 1196.69. The energy, materials and technology sectors led the index's climb as worries diminished about China and the scope of its inflation-cooling measures. The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite jumped 38.39 points, or 1.6%, to 2514.40.

"The market's getting back what it lost over the last few days," said Steve Sosnick, equity risk manager at Timber Hill LLC/Interactive Brokers Group LLC. "It's not a mystifying rally because there are plenty of positive factors today that explain it."

General Motors' shares, once again trading under the ticker symbol GM, closed up $1.19, or 3.6%, at $34.19. However, GM's closing price was below its open at $35 and its intraday high of $35.99. GM's offering elicited a flurry of excitement on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, but questions remain regarding GM's long-term strategy.

"Celebrating an IPO doesn't mean the business model works," said Bob Froehlich, senior managing director at the Hartford. "It just means you have enough investors that are willing to give the business model a chance. But now GM still has to go out and execute their plan."

Developments abroad also contributed to the market's gains. Ireland's central-bank governor said negotiations with officials from the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund will likely lead to Ireland receiving a loan on the order of "tens of billions" of euros from its European Union counterparts. The officials are in Dublin to examine the country's finances and banks.

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."Ireland was the catalyst that really got things going," said Peter Tuz, president at Chase Investment Counsel. "The absence or the likelihood of the problem not getting any worse seems to have increased overnight."

Additionally, economic data helped fuel the market's gains. Initial unemployment claims rose a smaller-than-expected amount and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's regional survey registered its best gain in general business activity since last December.

Among stocks in focus, Sears Holdings skidded 3.8% after its fiscal third-quarter loss widened more than analysts expected, as margins fell and sales dropped, especially at the company's namesake stores.


Bloomberg News

Dan Akerson, chief executive of General Motors, on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Nov. 18.
.Food company J.M. Smucker's fiscal second-quarter earnings climbed 6.9% on higher margins and topped analysts' expectations, but revenue was flat. Smucker also raised its target for the year by five cents. Its shares fell 1.4%.

Office-products retailer Staples's fiscal third-quarter profit increased 7.2%, as sales and margins showed modest improvement. Shares rose 1.9%.

In deal activity, Cardinal Health said it will buy privately held pharmaceutical distributor Kinray for $1.3 billion. Cardinal Health, the second-biggest drug distributor in the U.S. by market value, is looking to boost its presence in smaller pharmacies in the northeastern U.S. Its shares jumped 6.1%.

Write to Steven Russolillo at steven.russolillo@dowjones.com

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