Stock prices posted strong gains today as United States investors, reacting to encouraging earnings reports, returned to the Internet and pharmaceutical issues that were beaten down earlier this week.
The Dow Jones industrials, which rallied strongly in the final 20 minutes of trading, rose 132.87 points - or 1.3% - at 10,581.42.
Broader stock indicators were pushed higher by the renewed interest in technology companies.
The Standard and Poor's 500 index rose 29.95 to 1,336.12, and the Nasdaq composite rose 78.65 to 2,488.29.
Some big-company computer stocks, however, were struggling. Microsoft was lower, after the software-maker reported first-quarter earnings late Tuesday of 35 cents a share, beating analysts' expected 32 cents. But Microsoft warned that Year 2000 computer bug concerns could slow growth later in the year.
