NEW YORK (AP) — IBM gave Wall Street a reprieve from bad news Wednesday and investors responded by giving stocks a big rebound from their Inauguration Day plunge.
The Dow Jones industrials surged nearly 200 points as gains by technology stocks and a partial recovery in financial shares pulled the market sharply higher. All the major indexes rose more than 2 percent after earnings reports and forecasts from PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and Bank of New York Mellon eased concerns that the troubles at financial giants like Citigroup Inc. were hitting all banks.
Some bounce would have been expected following Tuesday’s sell-off that took the Dow down 332 points. But a better-than-expected 2009 forecast from IBM Corp. left technology shares looking like relatively safe bargains. Energy stocks also advanced as oil prices gained.
