US stocks have surged amid optimism that the January jobs market report out on Friday will point to firm economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 188.30 points (1.22 per cent) at 15,628.53.
The broad-based S&P 500 added 21.79 (1.24 per cent) at 1,773.43, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index tacked on 45.57 (1.14 per cent) at 4,057.12.
“Investors are a little bit more upbeat today on economic prospects, and have decided to look a little bit more at the bigger picture as far as overall economic strength,” said David Levy of Kenjol Capital Management.
Traders were looking ahead to the US Labor Department’s monthly jobs report covering January for signs of strength in the economy, with preliminary data on Wednesday and Thursday pointing to reasonably good numbers.
Economists expect the economy added 175,000 jobs in January, up from 74,000 in December, and the unemployment rate to hold unchanged at 6.7 per cent.
Mace Blicksilver of Marblehead Asset Management said investors were feeling more confident about the upcoming numbers.
“If the job reports comes in stronger, you don’t want to be caught too short in case the market takes off.”
Going against the market, Twitter shares plunged 24.2 per cent after its quarterly report showed disappointingly slow growth in users.
“Twitter has all of a sudden become a show-me story in the same way Facebook was challenged to prove its mobile credentials over a year ago,” said Youssef Squali of Cantor Fitzgerald.
Coca-Cola’s purchase of 10 per cent of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters for $US1.25 billion, or $US74.98 a share, drove Green Mountain shares up 26.2 per cent to $US102.10.
Yelp, the popular online reviews website, jumped 14.2 per cent after reporting a strong income gain in the fourth quarter and a smaller net loss.
Music streaming service Pandora continues to struggle to build income, its quarterly results showed; the shares lost 10.1 per cent.
Disney was another strong gainer, adding 5.3 per cent after it easily beat forecasts in its fiscal first-quarter report, helped by movie hits “Frozen” and “Thor: The Dark World”.
Disney turned in a 33 per cent rise in net profits to $US1.84 billion on a nine per cent climb in revenues to $US12.3 billion.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.70 per cent from 2.67 per cent Wednesday, while the 30-year increased to 3.68 per cent from 3.65 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.
