* Stocks jump on strong corporate earnings
* S&P 500 getting close to 1,000 mark; Nasdaq hits 2,000
* Dow up 1.7 pct; S&P 500 up 2 pct; Nasdaq up 1.6 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news click []
(Updates to late afternoon, changes byline)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, July 30 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks jumped on
Thursday as solid corporate profit reports and a drop in the
number of Americans on jobless benefits gave investors reasons
to buy equities following the S&P 500's two days of losses.
The market's rally pushed the benchmark S&P 500 index to
its highest intraday level in nine months, putting it less
than 4 points away from the psychologically important 1,000
level. The Nasdaq briefly rose above 2,000 for the first time
since October.
Stocks got an extra push after the Treasury Department's
auction of a record $28 billion of 7-year notes attracted
solid demand. Strong bids on U.S. debt diminish the chance of
a rise in borrowing costs.
The advance was broad-based, but a surge in commodity
prices gave an extra boost to raw materials shares. The
Reuters/Jefferies CRB index <.CRB>, a gauge of 19 commodities'
prices, rose 3.8 percent, its biggest daily gain since early
April. The S&P materials index <.GSPM> jumped 3.6 percent.
Companies reporting better-than-expected results on
Thursday included mobile phone maker Motorola Inc <MOT.N>, up
8.5 percent at $7.13, industrial conglomerate Tyco
International Ltd <TYC.N>, up 2.8 percent at $29.61, and
MasterCard Inc <MA.N>, up 4 percent at $196.00.
The upward move is "partly due to positive earnings
reports this morning, a pickup in commodity prices and also
investors who missed the recent advance," said Michael
Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial in Westport,
Connecticut.
"The fact that any recent pullbacks have been shallow
seems to be an indication of strength, leaving investors to
buy dips rather than sell rallies."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> gained 155.84
points, or 1.72 percent, to 9,226.56. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> added 19.04 points, or 1.95 percent, to
994.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> rose 31.22 points,
or 1.59 percent, to 1,998.98.
The S&P 500 is up 47 percent from the 12-year closing low
of March 9, but still down 37 percent from its record high
close in October 2007.
On the economic front, U.S. government data showed initial
claims for state unemployment insurance benefits rose a tad
above market expectations in the week ended July 25.
However, the four-week moving average for new claims,
considered to be a better gauge of underlying trends as it
irons out volatility, fell to its lowest level since January.
Goldman Sachs upgraded General Electric <GE.N> to "buy"
as they believe less likely that GE will have to spin-off its
finance arm, GE Capital. For details, see []
GE's stock shot up 8.6 percent to $13.31 on the New York
Stock Exchange.
On Nasdaq, UBS initiated coverage of Internet companies
Google Inc <GOOG.O>, Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> and
IAC/InterActiveCorp <IACI.O> with "buy" ratings and shares of
the three companies rose over 3 percent. []
Visa Inc <V.N> shares were up 1.3 percent at $67.64 after
the world's largest credit card network operator posted
stronger-than-expected earnings late on Wednesday.
So far, 75 percent of the S&P 500 companies that have
reported results have beaten expectations for the second
quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data.
(Editing by Jan Paschal)
