Wall Street open higher after upbeat earnings reports

NEW YORK -- Wall Street rallied in early trading Wednesday, led by robust first-quarter results from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and two other Dow Jones industrial components.

Investors anxious about corporate earnings and their impact on the economy were relieved after JPMorgan, Coca-Cola Co., and Intel Corp. all topped projections. The three companies are among dozens of others that will post quarterly results Wednesday.

The battered financial sector advanced after JPMorgan reported profit fell 50 percent because of tight credit markets, but still beat analysts' expectations. The nation's third-biggest bank, which is in the process of acquiring ailing Bear Stearns Cos., reported $2.6 billion of write-downs tied to its loan portfolio.

In addition to earnings reports, Wall Street weighed sluggish economic reports on inflation and housing that were mostly within expectations. The Federal Reserve will also release its Beige Book assessment of regional economies later in the day.

The Dow rose 104.62, or 0.85 percent, to 12,467.09.

Broader indexes also gained. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 12.77, or 0.96 percent, to 1,347.20; and the Nasdaq composite index added 29.44, or 1.29 percent, to 2,315.48.

Bond prices fell as stocks looked more attractive. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.60 percent from 3.57 percent late Tuesday.

Oil prices -- which crossed $114 for the first time on Tuesday -- extended their advance ahead of a report that is expected to indicate a modest rise in crude stockpiles. Light, sweet crude added 17 cents to $113.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold prices rose, and the dollar was mostly lower against other major currencies.

In corporate news, JPMorgan rose $1.30, or 3.3 percent, to $43.42 after issuing its quarterly report. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said the company is well capitalized and has enough liquidity to handle difficult market conditions, but did not call an end to the credit crisis like other bank CEOs have in recent weeks.

Dow component Intel rose $1.47, or 7 percent, to $22.38 after reporting late Tuesday that quarterly profit matched analysts' expectations and sales topped projections. Intel also issued a forecast that kept profit-margin predictions for 2008 intact.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola reported first-quarter profit rose 19 percent on a 21 percent increase in sales. Results from the Dow component easily surpassed Wall Street expectations, and shares added 28 cents to $61.21.

Government data showed that consumer inflation pushed higher last month as increases in energy, food and airline tickets overwhelmed the biggest drop in clothing prices in nearly a decade. The Labor Department reported consumer prices rose 0.3 percent in March after being unchanged in February.

Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, posted a 0.2 percent rise. Both the overall increase and the rise in core prices were in line with analysts' expectations.

Meanwhile, home construction plummeted during March to its lowest level in 17 years, the government said in a report signaling the housing sector will continue slumping. Housing starts decreased 11.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted 947,000 annual rate, after falling 0.7 percent in February to 1.075 million, according to the Commerce Department.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 7.03, or 1.02 percent, to 699.09.

Advancers led decliners by a 2 to 1 basis on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 55.9 million shares.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 1.20 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.92 percent, Germany's DAX index was up 0.65 percent, and France's CAC-40 added 1.18 percent.

(Agencies)