NEW YORK – Stocks rose Wednesday as a dip in crude prices shifted investors' attention from disappointing quarterly earnings from Boeing Co (BA) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN).
The Dow Jones industrial average (search) was up 32.34 points, or 0.31 percent, at 10,410.21. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (search) was up 4.47 points, or 0.37 percent, at 1,201.01. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index (search) was up 6.64 points, or 0.31 percent, at 2,116.09.
U.S. crude futures dipped 14 cents to $62.30 a barrel.
The drop in oil followed a bigger-than-expected jump in weekly U.S. crude stockpiles. Lower energy costs can help ease the financial burdens on household budgets and promote spending by companies, necessary factors for corporate profits to grow.
Meanwhile, energy companies' shares rose on solid earnings that benefited from record oil prices earlier this year.
Shares of ConocoPhillips (COP) jumped nearly 3 percent to $64.12 on the NYSE. The No. 3 U.S. oil company reported quarterly profit surged 89 percent, surpassing Wall Street forecasts, driven by record oil prices and sharply higher refining margins.
"The market is in a little bit of a sweet spot here, with crude down and energy stocks rising as well," said Jay Indovino, head of trading at Sungard Institutional Brokerage Inc.
A government report showed that distillate stocks fell by 1.6 million barrels last week, but crude stockpiles jumped by 4.4 million barrels compared with a forecast for a rise of 1.9 million barrels.
"We are poised for a bounce on a technical basis. Earnings in general have been pretty good," said Danny Verna, a vice president at Brokerage Adams Harkness in Boston.
But shares of Boeing, the world's No. 2 commercial jetmaker and a Dow component, fell 3 percent to $64.95 n the New York Stock Exchange (search), after the company reported a surge in profit, but, excluding one-time items, its earnings per share fell below analysts' forecasts.
Amazon's shares fell $5.43 to $40.74 on Nasdaq after the online retailer reported quarterly profit soared, but earnings per share also came in below Wall Street estimates.
Brokerage Piper Jaffray cut its price target on Amazon to $40 from $44 and cut its 2005 earnings estimate to 56 cents a share from 70.
Flextronics International Ltd. also fell 24.2 percent to $9.18 on Nasdaq a day after the world's biggest contract electronics manufacturer, posted a small net loss and set financial targets below analyst expectations.
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