LONDON (ShareCast) - US stocks soared on Tuesday, giving indices their biggest one day rise in more than four weeks, with the Dow Jones's constituents all heading north as the index broke back above the 13,000 level.

An improved International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast for global growth and a successful Spanish debt auction were the catalysts for Wall Street to pull out of its recent slump.

The IMF lifted its forecast for 2012 world economic growth from 3.3% to 3.5% and added US growth through the year will be 2.1%.

Meanwhile, Spain managed to sell €3.18bn in 12 and 18-month bonds before US markets opened. Demand was high, with the bid to cover ratio on the 12 month bonds at 2.9, for the 18 month maturities the ratio was 3.77.

In Germany, data from the ZEW Centre for European Economic Research showed improving investor confidence in Europe’s largest economy. The ZEW index of investor and analyst expectations rose from 22.3 in March to 23.4 in April.

Companies

Coca Cola was full of fizz after announcing better than expected earnings. The company's decision to introduce smaller bottle sizes has proved popular with cost-conscious consumers.

Foreign exchange tailwinds helped health-care products maker Johnson & Johnson achieve a 12% rise in first quarter earnings, though the strength of the dollar was a two-edged sword, as it subdued overseas sales. The company raised its full year earnings guidance by a couple of cents to a range running from $5.07 to $5.17.

Citigroup and Bank of America both rose, following the big rises seen amongst their European peers following the Spanish bond auction. Goldman Sachs was friendless, however, after reporting a 23% year-on-year slide in first quarter profits.

Also on the slide was white goods maker Whirlpool after a report from the US International Trade Commission's investigation into the pricing policies of Asian competitors LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics were not harmful to the US white goods sector.

Apple, which has been seeing profit taking over the last week, was back in favour, racking up the second biggest percentage rise on the NASDAQ 100. The consumer electronics giant is set to release results next week.

First Solar was top dog on NASDAQ, however, after announcing plans to slash its workforce by 30%. The company, which makes thin film used on solar panels, said demand in Europe is slowing down faster than it can grow sales in Asia.

After the bell, computing and consultancy giant IBM disappointed the market with its revenue figures. 'Big Blue' reported underlying earnings after tax of $2.78 a share, ahead of market expectations of $2.66 a share, but revenue of $24.6bn was less than the $24.8bn forecast by analysts tracking the stock.

Computer chip maker Intel was also sold off in screen-based trading after the bell, despite topping analyst projections with its first quarter results.

First quarter net income slipped to $2.74bn from $3.16bn the year before. Earnings per share of 53 cents were three cents lower than in the first quarter of 2011 but three cents higher than the market had been expecting. Revenue rose to $12.91bn from $12.86bn the year before, and the company predicted the second quarter would see sales push on to $13.6bn, prompting analysts to revise their forecasts; the consensus forecast for second quarter sales is currently $13.45bn.

In contrast, waning web portal Yahoo! cheered the market with its figures announced after the close of trading. First quarter earnings per share (EPS) of 23 cents were up from 17 cents the year before; the market had been expecting zero year-on-year growth in EPS.

Other markets

West Texas sweet light crude for May delivery rose $1.27 to $104.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The yield on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury rose to 2.00% from 1.98% the day before.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback's value against a trade-weighted basket of six currencies, rose to 79.561 at the end of the New York trading day from from 79.530 the day before.

S&P 500 - Risers
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $22.96 +10.28%
MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) $3.74 +8.41%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $107.02 +5.80%
Walgreen Co. (WAG) $35.07 +5.32%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $609.70 +5.10%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $68.00 -4.27%
Avon Products Inc. (AVP) $22.55 -2.08%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $42.68 +2.45%
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $38.48 +2.39%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $207.45 +2.33%
General Electric Co. (GE) $19.34 +2.33%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $61.87 +2.13%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $73.95 +2.08%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $103.62 +2.08%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
None

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $22.96 +10.28%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $609.70 +5.10%
Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) $22.69 +4.27%
Express Scripts Inc. (ESRX) $58.85 +3.61%
Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $16.00 +3.49%
VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $41.89 +3.23%
Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) $77.97 +3.19%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $33.84 +3.03%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $27.89 -2.16%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $44.00 -2.16%


JH

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