The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped above 12,000 for the first time, helped by the steepest decline in consumer prices this year and signs that profit growth is intact at the largest technology companies.
Intel Corp., the biggest semiconductor maker, and International Business Machines Corp. pushed the Dow average higher after their earnings beat analysts estimates.
Inflation remains under control and it looks like earnings for the most part are pretty good, said Timothy Woolston, who helps manage $2.3 billion at Boston Advisors LLC in Boston. Stocks should be able to rise.
A decline in JPMorgan Chase & Co. shares later pushed the Dow below its high for the day. Stocks were also held back by chip-equipment shares after Intel lowered its 2006 budget for spending on new plants and equipment and ASML Holding NV, Europe s largest maker of semiconductor gear, forecast slower orders.
The Dow industrials climbed 29.54, or 0.3 percent, to 11,979.56 at 3:20 p.m. in New York, after earlier rising to 12,049.51. The Standard & Poor s 500 Index added 0.50 to 1364.55.
Semiconductor stocks and a drop in Apollo Group Inc. shares pushed down the Nasdaq Composite Index. The measure lost 8.72, or 0.4 percent, 2336.23.
Stocks have risen this quarter, driving the S&P 500 up 2.6 percent and pushing the Dow past its January 2000 record. Signs that the economy is slowing to a sustainable pace, without triggering inflation or slipping into recession, helped spur the advance.
