Hewlett-Packard Profit Helps Lift Stocks
Stocks rose yesterday after Hewlett-Packard reported earnings that beat analysts' estimates and oil prices had their biggest drop since April.</br></br>Hewlett-Packard, the final Dow Jones industrial average member to announce results for the past quarter, was joined by semiconductor- production equipment maker Applied Materials, which also posted results that exceeded Wall Street expectations.</br></br>"Earnings across the board are still going to drive stock prices higher this year and be pretty good," said Jon Brorson, who helps manage $72 billion as head of growth investing at Neuberger Berman in Chicago.</br></br>The Dow rose 37.26, or 0.4 percent, to 10,550.71. The Nasdaq composite index gained 8.09, or 0.4 percent, to 2145.15. The S&P 500 inched up 0.90, or 0.1 percent, to 1220.24, limited by a slide in energy stocks. A government report on producer prices that showed inflation may be accelerating also weighed on the benchmarks.</br></br>Crude oil for September delivery tumbled $2.83 a barrel in New York, the steepest decline since April 27, as a government report showed that inventories were sufficient for refineries to make gasoline for the final weeks of the summer.