Stocks jump on auto sales, factory orders reports
By The Associated Press April 2, 2013 9:26AM
FILE - In this Wednesday, March 20, 2013 photo, Trader Anthony Riccio, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Asian stock markets vacillated Tuesday April 2, 2013 after a slight slowdown in U.S. manufacturing growth, but European stocks rose as traders expected to see encouraging data from the world's No. 1 economy later in the day. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Updated: April 2, 2013 10:57AM
Stocks are trading at record highs again following strong reports on auto sales and factory orders.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 92 points, or 0.6 percent, to 14,665 at midday Tuesday.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose nine points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,571. The Nasdaq composite rose 22, or 0.7 percent, to 3,261.
Chrysler said it sold more cars and trucks in March than in any month since the Great Recession began. Its sales rose 5 percent, while U.S. sales for GM and Ford rose 6 percent.
Orders to U.S. factories rose 3 percent in February, the best gain in five months.
Health insurance companies rose after the government released revised Medicare Advantage rates that suggest funding cuts will be less severe than analysts and companies had feared.
