U.S. Stocks Gain on Earnings; Intel, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo Rise

April 16 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks rose the most in two weeks as better-than-forecast profits from Intel Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. eased concern that the slowing economy is dragging down earnings.

Intel posted its best gain since January after the world's largest chipmaker said a weakening economy hasn't hurt sales. JPMorgan, the third-biggest U.S. bank, advanced after Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said the credit-market crisis is nearing an end. Wells Fargo climbed as the biggest West Coast bank limited losses from slumping California home prices.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 30.12, or 2.3 percent, to 1,364.55. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 256.8, or 2.1 percent, to 12,619.27. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 64.07, or 2.8 percent, to 2,350.11. Almost eight stocks advanced for each that fell on the New York Stock Exchange.

``You're seeing broad participation, which is a good thing,'' said Richard Campagna, portfolio manager at Provident Investment Counsel in Pasadena, California, which manages $3 billion. ``If the market's going to rally you need to broaden out the leadership, which is what you're seeing today.''

The S&P 500 posted its first back-to-back gains in more than a week after falling in four of the previous five trading sessions following disappointing results from Alcoa Inc., General Electric Co. and Wachovia Corp. Stocks gained today even after government reports showed housing starts and building permits fell more than forecast last month and the Federal Reserve said economic growth has weakened because of ``anemic'' real estate markets and a slowdown in consumer spending.

The benchmark index for stock-market volatility fell to the lowest level of the year. About 1.3 billion shares traded hands on the NYSE, below the three-month daily average for the 11th straight day.

我以前分析過，花街要把股市拉上去，刺激經濟，才能解套。