By Dow Jones
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, led by
technology stocks after a pair of encouraging earnings reports
boosted hopes for the economically-sensitive sector.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 51 points, or
0.5%, to 10646 in early trading. Boeing (B) was the measure's best
performer, up 0.9% after Russia said it would buy 50 of the
company's jets for $3.7 billion and Boeing said it plans to boost
further production of its next-generation 737 airplanes.
In an unusual parallel climb, stocks and commodities rose even
as investors continued to push safe-haven assets higher. Crude-oil
prices rose, while gold futures also moved upwards after touching
fresh highs above $1,280 an ounce. Treasurys also saw a pick-up in
interest as concerns arose that Ireland may have to seek external
assistance from the International Monetary Fund as it grapples with
a budget deficit. Yield on the 10-year note (UST10Y) fell to 2.70%.
Traditionally, riskier stocks rise when safer assets decline.
"The risk-on trade is back, but there are a couple of cross
currents. There's clearly money that doesn't believe in it or
doesn't believe in the long-term value in the U.S. dollar," said
Jerry Webman, chief economist at OppenheimerFunds.
Friday's trading could see more volatility than usual as both
single-stock and stock-index futures and options expire in a
session known as "quadruple witching" and the S&P 500 undergoes
a quarterly rebalance.
The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) gained 0.7% to 2320. The Standard
& Poor's 500-share index rose 0.6% to 1131, led by the
technology sector after encouraging earnings late Thursday night
from two-closely watched companies.
Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIMM) climbed 4.5% after
posting a surge in its fiscal second-quarter profit and revenue,
though it added fewer new subscribers than it had expected.
Business-software company Oracle (ORCL) added 5.8% after its
fiscal first-quarter profit grew 20% as the company benefited from
new revenue from its Sun Microsystems acquisition, as well as
strong demand for software licenses.
Among stocks in focus, chip maker Texas Instruments (TXN) jumped
1.4% after the company announced plans to buy back $7.5 billion
worth of its shares and would raise its quarterly dividend by
8%.
Pharmaceutical and health-care giant Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)
edged up 0.4% after saying it is in advanced talks to buy all the
shares of Dutch vaccine firm Crucell N.V. it doesn't already own
for EUR1.75 billion ($2.29 billion). J&J now holds about 18% of
Crucell's shares.
In U.S. economic data, the Labor Department said Friday that the
seasonally adjusted consumer-price index for August rose by 0.3%
from July, in line with economists' expectations. Meanwhile, the
underlying inflation rate remained unchanged, while forecasters had
predicted a 0.1% rise.
The U.S. dollar strengthened a bit against the euro, but
weakened against the yen. The euro was trading recently at $1.3075,
down from $1.3085 late Thursday in New York.