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http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh46959_2006-01-09_19-37-05_n09....


Dow passes 11,000 as GM, financials lead gains
Mon Jan 9, 2006 02:37 PM ET
(Updates to mid-afternoon)
By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The Dow Jones industrial average crossed 11,000 for the first time in 4 1/2 years on Monday, with Dow component General Motors Corp. (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and financial stocks leading gains after brokerage upgrades.

The last time the Dow passed 11,000 was June 13, 2001, when stocks were falling.

Many strategists say breaching the 11,000 mark does not signal a new trend for stocks. But they noted that because 11,000 signifies a psychological milestone, the Dow's climb above that point could boost sentiment.

"It's not really significant. The trend, if anything, is the last week and a half we've seen new money going into not only equity but dollar-denominated products, even with the rise in oil prices," said John O'Brien, head of sales trading at KeyBanc Capital.

U.S. February crude oil, while down nearly $1 a barrel earlier on Monday, recovered slightly from that drop to trade at $63.40.

Shares of investment banks JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research) rose after the Prudential Equity Group brokerage raised its rating on those stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 52.11 points, or 0.48 percent, at 11,011.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.55 points, or 0.35 percent, at 1,290.00. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was up 15.21 points, or 0.66 percent, at 2,320.83.

"I think it can hold above that level -- you've got a fairly strong economy that we think will remain strong, and you've got tremendous gains over the past year and a half or two years in corporate profitability," said Rick Egelton, chief economist at BMO Financial Group in Toronto.

"Corporate balance sheets are looking very strong. So in that context, it is not a surprise in how well the economy is performing, but in particular, how well corporate balance sheets are doing," he said.

Moving over the 11,000 mark puts the Dow about 6 percent below its all-time high of 11,750.28 set on Jan. 14, 2000.

The end of the dot-com bull market and, later, a recession, helped drive stocks from their peaks. In the ensuing bear market, the Dow retreated to as low as 7,197.49 in October 2002 before starting its rebound.

GM shares climbed 6.4 percent to $22.12 on the New York Stock Exchange after Goldman Sachs raised its rating on GM to "in-line" from "underperform."

Prudential upgraded JPMorgan Chase to "neutral weight" from "underweight," saying it expects "capital markets to perform better," while it raised Merrill Lynch to "overweight" from "neutral weight. [ID:nBNG195260]

JPMorgan shares rose 1.5 percent to $40.61 on the NYSE, while shares of Merrill gained 1.6 percent to $69.80 also on the NYSE.

The financial reporting period for companies starts this week, with Alcoa Inc. (AA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , one of the 30 components in the Dow average, scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell.

Shares of Alcoa were up 1.7 percent at $30.72 on the NYSE.


© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

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