Stocks rallied today on strong performances by several big tech firms, MarketWatch reports. Investors also poured money into financials in anticipation of the dollar boost the Fed will cause by holding interest rates steady after yesterday’s cut. The Dow climbed 189.87 to at 13,010.00, the Nasdaq rose 67.91 to 2,480.71, and the S&P 500 jumped 23.72 to 2,480.71.
The rally seemed unaffected by news of a jump in first-time jobless claims and an overall drop in manufacturing activity. Exxon’s worse-than-expected performance also seemed not to bother investors, apparently heartened by good news from Intel, Sandisk, and especially Symantec, which reported first-quarter earnings of $186.4 million in Q1, triple the figure from a year ago. (More Dow Jones stories.)