NEW YORK - Stocks moved sharply higher Wednesday on strong earnings from Time Warner Inc. and declining oil prices. A big upswing in tech stocks sent the Nasdaq composite index up well over 1 percent.
With three-quarters of third-quarter earnings reported, the Standard & Poor's 500 are poised to post a 14 percent year-over-year quarterly gain. Traders continue to watch earnings while they wait for details on the economic outlook from the Federal Reserve, which raised its benchmark interest rate to 4 percent Tuesday, its 12th consecutive rate increase.
"Interest rates are still rising, but for the moment, we have great corporate profits," said Charles H. Blood Jr., senior financial markets analyst at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. "It's like a race between interest rates and profits. One day interest rates seem to win, the next day profits seem to win."
The result is a market where large-cap stocks are nearly flat for the year.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 65.96, or 0.63 percent, to 10,472.73.
Broader stock indicators were higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 12.00, or 1 percent, to 1,214.76. The Nasdaq, lifted by companies such as Apple Computer Inc. and Black Box Corp., rose 30.26, or 1.43 percent, to 2,144.31.
Oil futures fell. A barrel of light crude was quoted at $59.75, down 10 cents, in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil's decline widened after the Energy Information Administration reported oil and gas reserves that were in line with analysts' exceptions.
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