Earnings reports drive up North American markets

The growth in IBM Inc.
stocks, up US$5 to 112 1/8,
contributed to 27 points to the
Dow. It finished up 187.43, to
10,392.36. The hardware-tech
company was expected to announce
a 15% earnings growth over the
last quarter.

In fact, technology was the
name of the day. Nasdaq gainers
beat out losers by a margin of
11 to 8, lead by Microsoft Inc.,
which bloated by US$5, to close at
$91 5/16. The computer giant saw
greater earnings growth than
anyone had expected. AOL’s
latest quarterly results doubled
analysts expectations too, and the
company gained $4 7/8 to 120 1/8.
Consequently, a wave up optimism
washed over many tech stocks, and
Nasdaq closed 3% higher, its best
gain in more than a month, or 99.95
to 2,788.

Nortel was the busiest of
the TSE stocks, and it picked up
some recent lost share price. The
multi-faceted tech hardware company
was trading as much as C$2.40
higher late in the afternoon,
to $77.10.

The TSE crept up to 6930.82, or
by 76.82. The ME reached higher
as well, up 56.16 to 3695.49.
Both the ASE and VSE were up in
late day trading.

The other big news came from
the U.S. tobacco industry.
Companies like R.J Reynolds
will be liable for a class action
suit, brought on behalf of Florida
residents, a state appeal court has
ruled. RJ dropped US$2 1/16 to
$23 7/8, Philip Morris Co.
slipped by US$2 3/4 to $28.