Stocks rebounded sharply Wednesday on better than expected results from IBM (NYSE: IBM) and news that CEOs at some of the nation’s biggest banks were buying shares in their battered companies.
IBM shares rocketed 11.5% on the company’s strong earnings report, and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) kept the party going after hours when it soared 9% on a much better than expected earnings report on top of a 6% gain during the day. Investors also took the company’s modestly conservative guidance as a good sign; Apple is known for very conservative guidance.
But eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) didn’t fare nearly as well, falling 6% in after-hours trading on lower than expected revenues and guidance. Also after the close, Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) announced plans to cut 5,000 to 6,000 jobs.
Stocks recouped much of Tuesday’s losses — the biggest inaugural day loss in the 112-year history of the Dow — on insider buying at Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and better than expected results at Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) and Northern Trust (NASDAQ: NTRS). Also helping to boost stocks were hopes for a new bailout and stimulus plan from the Obama administration. And JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) gained on news of insider buying after the close.
Adtran (NASDAQ: ADTN) and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) jumped on their quarterly results, news that boosted shares of Juniper (NASDAQ: JNPR) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK). Nokia will report its results Thursday morning.
Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and AMD (NYSE: AMD) surged ahead of their earnings reports due out after the close on Thursday.
The Nasdaq rose 66 to 1507, the S&P 500 gained 35 to 840, and the Dow surged 279 to 8228. Volume rose to 7.4 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.14 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a 28-8 margin on the NYSE, and 21-7 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 89% on the NYSE, and 87% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 5-104 on the NYSE, and 4-167 on the Nasdaq.