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Housing, Earnings Lift Dow Above 9,000

This article is more than 10 years old.

The Dow hit its highest level since January on Thursday as better than expected home sales data and more upbeat corporate earnings reports pushed stocks up more than 2%. The three major indexes rose steadily in the morning and held on to gains through the close of trading. Sparking the rally, existing home sales climbed in June for the third straight month while blue chip firms like 3M and AT&T posted strong financial results for the second quarter. (See "New Home Sales Test Market")

The Dow Jones industrial average crossed the 9,000 mark for the first time in six months, gaining 188 points, or 2.1%, to 9,069. The S&P 500 rose 22 points, or 2.3%, to 976 and the Nasdaq was up 47 points, or 2.5%, to 1,974.

Diversified manufacturer 3M gained $4.67, or 7.2%, to $69.34 after beating analyst expectations for its quarterly profit. Sales of respiratory masks, spurred by swine flu, and consumer electronics demand boosted results.

AT&T gained 63 cents, or 2.5%, to $25.47 after reporting profits that fell by less than Wall Street was expecting, helped by the popularity of the iPhone.

Shares of McDonald's fell despite hitting analyst estimates for the burger chain's quarterly profit. Sales grew by less than Wall Street was hoping for, taking the stock down $2.75, or 4.7%, to $56.07.

Bond rater Moody's lost 3.8% on Thursday after Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett cut his stake in the firm, which got burned giving high ratings to junky mortgage bonds. Buffett sold around 8 million shares for $218 million, sending Moody's stock down by as much 10% early in the session.

In commodities, crop prices rose sharply, with corn up more than 6% and sugar at a three-year high on fears of a poor harvest in some parts of the globe. Crude oil gained 3% to hit a three-week high on fears that refinery outages will cause a shortage of gasoline.

Thomson Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.