Stocks soar on earnings by GM, Texas Instruments

NEW YORK -- Wall Street got the dose of good news it's been longing for Tuesday: better-than-expected earnings, and from two big companies, General Motors and Texas Instruments. Stocks surged -- the Dow industrials up more than 200 points and the Nasdaq composite index up better than 3 percent -- as investors' faith was renewed in an economic turnaround.

"The market is reflecting a better feeling about tech stocks and is also benefiting from strength in GM," said Alan Ackerman, executive vice president of Fahnestock & Co., although he warned that the market's enthusiasm likely won't last as more companies report first-quarter results, some of which are bound to disappoint investors.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 207.65, or 2.1 percent, at 10,301.32. It was the Dow's biggest one-day point gain since March 4.

Tuesday also saw the market's broader indicators rise sharply. The tech-focused Nasdaq climbed 61.39, or 3.5 percent, to 1,815.17 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 25.56, or 2.3 percent, to 1,128.11.

GM, the strongest Dow industrial Tuesday, rose $2.95 to $64.05 after reporting first-quarter profits of $1.39 a share, 25 cents higher than analysts had forecast.

Texas Instruments climbed $1.66 to $33.79, having reported earnings late Monday of a penny a share, beating Wall Street's break-even estimates.

"We think we can say goodbye to the bottom," said Ron Slaymaker, the company's manager of investor relations.

Other gainers included Intel, up $1.34, and Johnson & Johnson, up $1.10.