US stocks gain sharply for 2nd day
Friday, 19 December 2014
US stocks climbed more than 1 per cent on Thursday, extending a rally from the previous session as tech shares gained with upbeat results from Oracle. The technology sector, up 2.2 per cent, helped fuel the advance, buoyed by a gain of over 8 per cent in Oracle Corp. Shares of Apple climbed 1.9 per cent. At 12:44 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average rose 285.96 points, or 1.65 per cent, to 17,642.83, the S&P 500 gained 32.31 points, or 1.61 per cent, to 2,045.2 and the Nasdaq Composite added 73.58 points, or 1.58 per cent, to 4,717.89. Oil prices were volatile, with Brent crude hitting a high of $63.70 and WTI crude reaching $58.73 before turning slightly lower. The S&P Energy sector was last up 1.4 per cent. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE 2,467 to 592, for a 4.17-to-1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,964 issues rose and 727 fell for a 2.70-to-1 ratio. The benchmark S&P 500 was posting 54 new 52-week highs and 5 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 117 new highs and 25 new lows, according to Reuters.