Dow, S& P 500 at highest levels since 2008

" The Fed statement and Bernanke's speech didn't offer any surprises, and that's good for the market because Wall Street hates uncertainty," said Doug Roberts, chief investment officer at Channel Capital Research and author of Follow the Fed to Investment Success.

The lack of news pushed the Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) up 96 points, or 0.8%. The S& P 500 (SPX) rose 8 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) added 22 points, or 0.8%.

The gains put all three indexes at fresh multi-year highs. The Dow climbed to its highest level since May 2008, while the S& P 500 rose to its highest level since June 2008. The Nasdaq pushed to its highest level since December 2000.

With the Fed's meeting on top of this week's onslaught of corporate earnings and economic reports, " investors have a lot to digest," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks finished at their highest levels in three years.

Companies: GE's (GE, Fortune 500) stock jumped 2.7%, leading the Dow's gainers. At an annual shareholder's meeting, the conglomerate's CFO said the company's profit growth over the next few years will be the fastest it has seen in a decade.

Shares of Merck (MRK, Fortune 500) rose 1.6% after the Dow component got the green light from its board for a $5 billion share buyback program.

Shares of Boeing (BA, Fortune 500) rose 0.8% after the aeronautics company reported a 13% increase in its first-quarter profit.

Amazon.com (AMZN, Fortune 500)'s stock was the biggest winner on the S& P 500 and Nasdaq, with shares rising 8%, even though the online merchant reported first-quarter earnings that fell by one-third compared to a year earlier and sharply missed Wall Street forecasts.

For-profit educator DeVry's (DV) stock was also a strong performer on the S& P 500 after popping more than 7%. Late Tuesday, DeVry reported a 14% rise in its quarterly profit

Meanwhile, shares of Broadcom (BRCM, Fortune 500) sank 12.3% after the semiconductor company issued a disappointing outlook. Broadcom was the worst performing company in the S& P 500 and Nasdaq.

After Tuesday's close, Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) posted quarterly results roughly in line with expectations, but the coffee giant disappointed investors with a lower-than-expected outlook. Shares slipped 2% in after-hours trading.

Economy: The government said new orders for durable goods increased 2.5% in March, after a 0.7% rise the month before. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect an increase of 1.8% in March.

World markets: European stocks closed mixed. The DAX in Germany rose 0.7%, France's CAC 40 gained 0.7%, while Britain's FTSE 100 ended slightly lower.

Asian markets also ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong both fell about 0.5%, while Japan's Nikkei rallied 1.4%.

Standard & Poor's warned that Japan's government could face a downgrade of its credit rating within the next few years, as the nation's economy recovers from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

S& P lowered its outlook on Japan's long-term debt to " negative" from " stable," saying the government will likely bear most of the cost of rebuilding. The ongoing struggle to contain a damaged nuclear power plant in Japan makes the outlook even more uncertain, the agency said.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar fell against the euro and the British pound, but rose versus the Japanese yen.

Oil for June delivery gained 55 cents to settle at $112.76 a barrel.

Gold futures for June delivery rose $13.60 to settle at $1,517.10 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, with the yield rising to 3.37% from Tuesday's yield of 3.32%. 

Stocks end mixed amid investor caution

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) fell 26 points, or 0.2%, to 12,479. The S& P 500 (SPX) slipped 2 points, or 0.1%, to 1,335. But the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) bucked the trend, rising nearly 6 points, or 0.2%, to 2,825.

Stocks retreated after the Dow ended last week near a 3-year high on a batch of strong corporate earnings.

While there were no top-tier corporate results released Monday, the week ahead brings quarterly results from nine Dow components and 180 members of the S& P 500.

Shares of Netflix (NFLX) fell nearly 5% in extended hours after the company reported strong quarterly gains in sales and profits, but offered a conservative outlook for the current quarter.

Currencies and commodities: Gold futures for June delivery rose $4.70 to $1,508.70 an ounce, after setting a new intraday trading high of $1,518.60 earlier Monday.

Silver futures for May delivery were up $1.33 to $47.40 an ounce. Earlier, prices rose to $49.82, near an all-time high.

Oil for June delivery slid 6 cents to settle at $112.23 a barrel.

The dollar fell against the euro and the British pound, but rose against the Japanese yen.

A weaker dollar tends to support prices for commodities that are priced in the U.S. currency. As a result, oil and gold often rise when the greenback retreats.

In addition, precious metals have benefited by growing concerns about inflation, which has taken off in emerging markets and is on the rise in Europe.

Gold and silver are assets that many investors see as a hedge against inflation, since tangible assets tend to hold their value better than stocks or bonds when prices are rising.

Economy: Sales of new homes rose more than expected in March, although the weak housing market remains a concern for many investors.

March new-home sales came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000, up 11% from the the revised February rate of 270,000, the Census Bureau said.

Economists were expecting a sales rate of 280,000, according to consensus estimates gathered by Briefing.com.

" Home sales are critical, and even though we may see some marginal improvement, they're still down considerably from where they were before the downturn," said Andy Hugos, financial consultant with LPL Financial.

Companies: Shares of Kimberly-Clark (KMB, Fortune 500) were down 2.7% after the maker of paper products said first-quarter earnings fell 6.5% from the same period last year.

World markets: Asian markets ended lower. The Shanghai Composite fell 1.5% and Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.1%.

Stock markets in Britain, Germany, France and Hong Kong were all closed for Easter Monday.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 3.36% from 3.4% late Thursday. The bond market closed early Thursday and remained closed in observance of Good Friday. 

Stocks under pressure ahead of earnings

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) rose 1 point, or less than 0.1%, to close at 12,381. The S& P 500 (SPX) slipped about 4 points, or 0.3% to 1,324. The Nasdaq Composite (COMP) sank 9 points, or 0.3%, to 2,771.

After the market closed, Alcoa said it earned 28 cents per share in the first quarter, beating analysts' estimates by a penny.

JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500), another Dow component, and Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) are also slated to post results later this week.

As of last week, earnings for companies in the S& P 500 were expected to be up around 11% versus the first quarter of 2010, according to estimates from Thomson Reuters. Revenues are seen rising 8% in the quarter.

" The expectation is that the numbers will not disappoint," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.

However, he said investors will be looking for clues on how companies are coping with rising prices for oil and other basic commodities. " I think that will be the real story this quarter," Luschini said.

In addition, the 3% pullback in oil prices weighed on shares of energy producers and industrial companies. Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500) and Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) dragged on the Dow, while Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) and Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) were also weak.

" Oil sold off and the market is taking its cues from that," said Tom Schrader, a managing director at Stifel Nicolaus.

Investors also looked past comments from Janet Yellen, vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, who suggested that the central bank will remain accommodative for some time.

" That normally would have supported the market," said Schrader. " But it doesn't seem to be having any impact."

After a strong start to the year, trading could be choppy in the weeks ahead as stocks hover near their highest levels in over two years, said Steven Goldman, market strategist at Weeden & Co.

" The general feeling is that stocks are still priced to go higher," he said. " But a lot of people have already committed, which makes it more difficult to have a sharp advance."

Companies: Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) announced plans to buy American Medical Systems (AMMD) for $2.9 billion in cash and stock. Shares of American Medical jumped 32%, while Endo stock rose 5%.

Communications services company Level 3 (LVLT) announced plans to buy rival Global Crossing (GLBC) in an all-stock deal valued at $3 billion.

Shares of Tyco (TYC) were up 3.5%, amid speculation that France's Schneider Electric is considering a bid for the Swiss industrial conglomerate.

On the down side, shares of Tenet Healthcare (THC, Fortune 500) sank 15% as the company filed suit against Community Health Systems, which is pursuing a hostile takeover bid for Tenet.

Shares of major U.S. automakers Ford and GM were also under pressure. Ford (F, Fortune 500) fell 3%, while GM (GM) was down 2.8%.

NYSE Euronext, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, said Sunday that its board rejected a takeover offer from the owner of Nasdaq and another rival exchange.

Economy: Late Friday, lawmakers pushed through a last-minute budget bill to keep the federal government open for business. Uncertainty about a possible shutdown kept investors on edge last week, sending stocks down on Friday.

While investors may welcome the deal -- because it creates more certainty about this year's government spending -- lawmakers will now refocus on even more difficult budget battles ahead. Questions still loom about raising the debt ceiling and dealing with long-term deficits in the 2012 budget.

World markets: London's FTSE ended flat, while the Dax in Frankfurt eased 0.2% and Paris' CAC-40 fell 0.6%, after an earthquake shook northeastern Japan -- sending a landslide into Iwaki City. That's the same region that was devastated by a deadly earthquake-tsunami on March 11.

Over the weekend, the Chinese government reported its first quarterly deficit in seven years, as imports outweighed exports by more than $1 billion.

That's a stark contrast to the first quarter of 2010, when China's General Administration of Customs reported a surplus of more than $13 billion.

Asian markets had already closed in the red prior to Monday's earthquake.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro and the British pound, but fell versus the Japanese yen.

Oil for May delivery slipped $3.62 to $109.19 a barrel.

Gold futures for June delivery fell $6.10 to $1,467.80 an ounce. Earlier in the session, the precious metal hit an intraday high of $1,478 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury was little changed, with the yield unchanged from Friday at 3.57%. 

Stocks post third straight day of gains

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) rose 50 points, or 0.4%, to 12,221. The S& P 500 (SPX) index climbed 4.1 points, or 0.3%, to 1,313.80 and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) gained 6.6 points, or 0.2%, to 2,743.

Tech stocks were among the biggest movers. Shares of Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) gained 1.5%, after the software company reported results late Thursday that were mostly in line with expectations. Dow component IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) closed up 1.5%. IBM, like Oracle, is a big seller of software to businesses.

The earnings news helped offset what was generally an uneventful day for the market.

" No news is good news these days," said Daniel Morgan, portfolio manager with Synovus Trust Company.

Though unrest in the Middle East and Libya is spreading and Japan continues to deal with the effects of an earthquake, U.S. stocks still performed extremely well this week.

" The market looked for an excuse for a correction, and got one in the Libya unrest and Japanese earthquake. But I suspect now we'll continue to trend higher," said Harry Clark with Clark Capital Management.

Mostly positive earnings news from the technology sector boosted U.S. stocks on Thursday as well.

Economy: Investors reacted little to the third and final reading of fourth-quarter U.S. GDP, which showed an annual growth rate of 3.1%, up from a prior estimate of 2.8%.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey for March came in at a reading of 68.2, in line with economists' expectations.

Companies: Research in Motion (RIMM) shares plunged more than 11% after the BlackBerry maker gave weak guidance late Thursday.

Electronics retailer Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500) was among the worst performers in the S& P 500, falling 3% after Wall Street analysts downgraded the company following its earnings report earlier this week.

Shares of Darden Restaurants (DRI, Fortune 500), operator of Red Lobster and Olive Garden, dropped 5% despite the fact that the company's earnings beat analyst estimates. Darden hinted that rising food costs could be a problem down the road.

World markets: European stocks closed higher. Britain's FTSE 100 ticked up by 0.3%, the DAX in Germany gained 0.2% and France's CAC 40 rose 0.1%.

Asian markets ended the session higher. The Shanghai Composite, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong and Japan's Nikkei all gained about 1.1%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound.

Oil for May delivery fell 8 cents at $105.52 a barrel.

Gold futures for April delivery dropped by $8.70, or 0.6%, to $1,426.20 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 3.40% from 3.39% late Thursday.

Stocks finish higher thanks to afternoon boost

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) closed 67 points higher, or 0.6%, led by a 3% jump in shares of Alcoa (AA, Fortune 500). Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) was the worst performer on the blue-chip index. The bank said it will need to revise its dividend plan after the Fed rejected the bank's initial proposal.

The S& P 500 (SPX) rose 4 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) added 14 points, or 0.5%.

Traders spent most of Wednesday and the previous session on the sidelines, unwilling to place any big bets as global concerns linger.

" Investors are waiting to see if things will get worse or smooth out," said Ron Kiddoo, chief investment officer at Cozad Asset Management.

But with a lack of any significant developments, investors began to tiptoe their way back into the market late Wednesday afternoon.

" We've been watching for more news out of Japan and the Middle East, but there's not much new information, so that's improving some confidence," said Paul Radeke, vice president at KDV Wealth Management. " There's a lot of pent-up demand, and a lack of further bad news will lift the market."

A disappointing housing report didn't help matters much, but after a brief blip, investors largely shrugged off the data, which showed new home sales tumbled to a record low last month.

World markets: The Egyptian market plunged Wednesday. The stock market in Egypt had been closed since Jan. 27, and most traders had already anticipated the sharp drop.

Other world markets were stronger. Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite added 1%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong edged down 0.1%.

On Wednesday, the Japanese government said the quake would cost the nation $300 billion -- more than double the cost of the Kobe quake in 1995, according to published reports.

European stocks ended higher. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.6%, the DAX in Germany rose 0.4% and France's CAC 40 increased 0.5%.

Companies: Shares of General Mills (GIS, Fortune 500) dropped 1.8%. The cereal maker, which raised prices in October, said its fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 18%, though U.S. sales were slightly lower.

Adobe Systems (ADBE) was the biggest decliner on the S& P 500 and Nasdaq. Shares sank 3.7% after the software maker lowered its second-quarter earnings forecast, saying the earthquake and tsunami in Japan will curb sales.

Shares of homebuilder PulteGroup (PHM) rose 3.6% after Goldman Sachs raised its price target on the stock.

Jabil Circuit's (JBL, Fortune 500) stock jumped almost 11%, leading the gainers in the S& P 500. The electronics manufacturing company posted a profit and sales figures above expectations late Tuesday.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro and British pound, but fell versus the Japanese yen.

Meanwhile, commodity prices gained across the board.

Oil for May delivery, which became the front-month contract Wednesday, settled up 78 cents, or 0.7%, to $105.75 a barrel as fighting in Libya continued. Natural gas prices also rose, climbing almost 2% to $4.34 per thousand cubic feet.

Gold futures for April delivery rose $10.40, or 0.7%, to settle at a fresh record high of $1,438 an ounce as unrest in the Middle East and concern about Europe's debt crisis spurred demand for an alternative investment, said Sameer Samana of Wells Fargo Advisors.

The price of silver rose to its highest level in over 30 years, topping $37 an ounce. Platinum, palladium and copper prices also advanced.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury was slightly lower, pushing the yield up to 3.35% from 3.33% late Tuesday.

Dow jumps 160 after two days of losses

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) jumped 161 points, or 1.4%, to 11,775. The Dow had 26 out of its 30 members close higher during the session, led by shares of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500) and Pfizer (PFE, Fortune 500).

The S& P 500 (SPX) rose 17 points, or 1.3%, to 1,274, and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) gained 19 points, or 0.73%, to 2,636.

Among the best performers in the S& P 500 were Federal Express (FDX, Fortune 500) and United Parcel Service (UPS, Fortune 500). FedEx issued earnings guidance that topped analysts' forecasts and said it still expected moderate economic growth this year.

Investors typically view FedEx and UPS as good indicators about the economy because of their roles in transporting billions of dollars worth of goods every year.

Railroad stocks also rose, with shares of CSX (CSX, Fortune 500), Norfolk Southern (NSC, Fortune 500) and Union Pacific (UNP, Fortune 500) all up 2.5% or more.

The recovery came a day after U.S. stocks posted steep losses, with all three major indexes hitting their lowest levels of the year on ongoing concerns about Japan's nuclear reactor.

" The news continues to be frustratingly unclear out of Japan," said Kate Warne, investment strategist with Edward Jones. " It's been a lot of selling and asking questions later, but there's more going on in the world than just Japan."

Japan has been aggressively working to avert a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, following last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami. (CNN.com's Japan coverage)

Warne said she believes Japan's problems will not spill over into the global economy.

" People have been reacting to the pictures on the screen, not to what Japan means six months forward," Warne said. " I don't think longer-term impact of the tsunami and reactors will derail global growth or derail corporate earnings."

World markets: Asian markets fell, with the Nikkei in Japan (NKY) falling 1.4%, the Shanghai Composite sliding 1.1%, and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong losing 1.8%.

But stocks in London, Frankfurt and Paris closed higher after French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde initiated a Group of Seven conference call to discuss ways to support Japan. The U.S. dollar hit an all-time low against the yen on Wednesday.

The G7 call -- which includes finance and central banking leaders from the United States, Japan, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Italy and Germany -- is scheduled for later Thursday.

Lagarde told reporters that the group will discuss buying Japanese bonds as one possible way to shore up the world's third-largest economy.

Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.8%, the DAX in Germany gained 2.2% and France's CAC 40 added 2.4%.

Companies: Shares of The New York Times (NYT). rose as much as 4% Thursday after the company revealed details about its much-anticipated pay wall system. Shares closed up only 0.3% at the end of the day, however.

Shares of Nike (NKE, Fortune 500) dropped 6% after the market close after the athletic apparel maker said it had a third-quarter profit of $1.08. The earnings were well short of the $1.12 a share analysts were looking for, according to Briefing.com.

Economy: The U.S. consumer price index has risen 2.1% in the past year, according to the Commerce Department. That marked the fastest rate since April 2010. Underlying inflation remained low.

In other reports, the number of first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell to 385,000 last week. Continuing claims hit their lowest level since September 2008.

Currencies and commodities: The disaster in Japan has driven the yen sharply higher against the dollar on demand for safe-haven assets and speculation that more cash will flow back into the country as it rebuilds. After the dollar hit an all-time low versus the yen on Wednesday, it edged about 1% higher early Thursday.

Meanwhile, the dollar fell against the euro and the British pound.

Oil for April delivery jumped $3.60 or 3.7%, to $101.56 a barrel.

Gold futures for April delivery rose $8.90 to $1,405.00 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 3.27%. 

Rough day for stocks: S& P 500, Nasdaq erase year's gains