quarter earnings rose 33 percent. Exxon Mobil Corp. rose 1.3 percent to $51.93 after the world's largest publicly traded oil company reported the highest quarterly profit in its history, driven by lofty crude oil and natural gas prices. Delta Air Lines, which rose 9.3 percent to $5.50, led a rally in airline stocks as Merrill Lynch raised its ratings on four U.S. carriers, and oil prices slipped.