Stocks jumped Wednesday—with the Dow industrials rising nearly 250 points—as better-than-expected profit reports from J.P. Morgan Chase, Coca-Cola, and Intel reassured investors concerned about the quarterly earnings reporting period. Corporate profits are expected to have fallen about 14.5 percent from a year ago, but financial-firm profits have been forecast to drop more than 50 percent amid the continuing fallout from the credit and housing crises. J.P. Morgan Chase reported a smaller-than-expected decline in quarterly profits Wednesday on a slightly larger-than-expected drop in revenue. Although the company has suffered from the credit crisis and the housing-market collapse, it has managed to perform better than many of its competitors. Its shares rose 5 percent. In economic news, U.S. new-home construction fell more than expected to a 17-year low. Building permits, a measure of builder confidence, also declined. Industrial production rose 0.3 percent in March, surprising analysts who expected a decline. Consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in March, up from a flat reading the previous month, but in line with analysts' estimates. “Core” consumer inflation—which excludes volatile energy and food costs—rose 0.2 percent, up from a flat reaching the previous month. Light sweet crude oil for May delivery rose to 114.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, closing at a record high for the third consecutive session. Oil spiked to a trading record of $115.07 earlier in the day after the U.S. government's weekly inventory report showed a surprising drop in crude supplies. U.S. national average retail gasoline prices rose to a record high near $3.40 a gallon (3.8 liters), gold futures jumped, and the U.S. dollar hit a record low versus the euro and also fell against the yen. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 256.80, or 2.1 percent, to 12,619.27. Coca-Cola reported higher sales and profits that surpassed estimates Wednesday morning, but its shares were little changed. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 30.28, or 2.3 percent, to 1,364.71. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 64.07, or 2.8 percent, to 2,350.11. Intel reported lower first-quarter earnings that met estimates on higher sales that surpassed estimates late Tuesday. The chipmaker also forecast second-quarter revenue in a range that could surpass analysts' current estimates. Its shares jumped nearly 6 percent. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 225.57 to 9,203.76. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 77.90 to 2,345.83. And the Russell 2000 index rose 21.33 to 713.39.
