Wall St.'s Choppy Day Ends On Up Note
Stock prices finally settled on solid gains today after investors spent a wobbly session perplexed by another batch of mixed signals about the economy and earnings.</br></br>Buyers deemed a better-than-expected report on the economy to be a plus. But sellers fretted over the latest string of analyst downgrades of high-profile companies.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 50.66 at 10,647.33, bouncing back from several dips into negative territory.</br></br>The market's broader indicators followed the same path. The Nasdaq composite index rose 38.58, to 2031.24, and the Standard & Poor's 500- stock index advanced 10.56, to 1223.14. It was the first time since June 7 that all three major indexes advanced.</br></br>Investors were feeling somewhat optimistic after hearing that the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators, a key forecasting gauge, rose 0.5 percent in May. The reading was better than the 0.3 percent analysts were expecting and a sign that the economy is poised to slowly recover.