Oracle Jumps 11% on Strong Growth; Circuit City Shares Ease, CarMax Hits All-Time High, Morgan Stanley Moves Up
Stocks rose sharply, with Oracle's market value jumping nearly $10 billion, Circuit City Stores' shares edging down after a strong start, Morgan Stanley moving up on a double-digit rise in earnings, CarMax reaching a record and Darden Restaurants advancing, aided by its Olive Garden eateries.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 72.28 points, or 0.63%, to 11613.19 -- within 109.79 points, or 1%, of its all-time closing high of 11722.98, as 25 of its 30 component stocks rose. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 30.52, or 1.37%, to 2252.89, up eight of the past nine sessions. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index edged up 6.87, or 0.52%, to 1325.18, after touching a five-and-a-half-year high. The momentum placed the indexes at fresh four-month highs.</br></br>"The market got off to a good start on strong earnings and lower oil prices," said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at Trusco Capital Management. "And the Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged certainly wasn't bad news."</br></br>Oracle (Nasdaq) jumped $1.80, or 11%, to $17.93, a five-year high, adding $9.4 billion to its market capitalization. The gain helped return the Nasdaq 100 Index of nonfinancial stocks to positive territory for 2006, after being down for four months. Oracle's fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 29%, besting Wall Street estimates. Revenue climbed 30%.</br></br>Software stocks rose on the news. Citrix Systems moved up 2.21, or 6.5%, to 36.28; Tibco Software gained 61 cents, or 7%, to 9.31; and Red Hat advanced 1.07, or 4.5%, to 25.07, all on the Nasdaq.