Stocks rose in a volatile session Thursday as strength in the technology sector offset credit-market concerns caused by troubling news form investment bank Bear Stearns and bond insurer MBIA. Bear Stearns announced a quarterly loss of $854 million, more than four times bigger than analysts had expected. The company also said it would write down $1.9 billion for the quarter. Credit concerns have been heightened recently as bond insurers have seen their credit ratings threatened by damage from the sub-prime mortgage crisis. MBIA announced a surprise $8.1 billion write-down on Wednesday due partly to mortgage-backed securities. Shares of the company fell as much as 27 percent. In economic news, the government said Thursday that U.S. gross domestic product (GDP)-the broadest measure of economic activity-was unchanged. The country's GDP grew at a pace of 4.9 percent in the July-to-September quarter, unchanged from an estimate made last month. Light sweet crude oil for February delivery fell 18 cents to $91.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 38.37, or 0.3 percent, to 13,245.64. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.12, or 0.5 percent, to 1,460.12. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index jumped 39.85, or 1.5 percent, to 2,640.86. Shares of software maker Oracle gained nearly 8 percent in afternoon trading after the company reported better-than-expected earnings Wednesday. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) saw its shares rise more than 4 percent ahead of its earnings report to be released after the market closes. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 36.20 to 9,622.27. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 22.84 to 2,357.37. And the Russell 2000 index rose 11.41 to 767.54.
