Markets continue to recover

First Call, a U.S.-based research company which provides estimated earnings forecasts, said many Standard & Poor’s 500 companies are bettering their earnings forecasts. Investors reacted postively. That index jumped by 39.53 points to 1,440.97.

Buying up tech stocks after last week’s drop, investors drove up the NASDAQ. It climbed 254.27 points to reach 3,793.52. Computer stocks like Intel and IBM jumped, too. Microsoft edged upwards, as did AT&T. The Goldman & Sachs Internet Index jumped by 11%.

NASDAQ’s gains outplayed losses by three to one. Other consumer and industrials gained as well, including Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, after analysts projected those companies’ first quarter results, due today after the markets closed, would look good. Financial stocks like DJDirect and E*Trade pushed ahead as well.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up by 182.42 points to 10,764.93. Advances beat out retreats by 19 to 10 on the NYSE.

The TSE 300 composite index was swept up by today’s optimism too. It added 299.94 points moving to 9069.50. BCE added C$11.05 to $160.50, and Nortel advanced by $11.40 to $160.50. Certicom notched up by $17.75 to $78. JDS Uniphase slipped back more than $6.

Techs also led the CDNX further upwards, by 230.02 points to 3,650.30. Unique Broadband Systems swelled by nearly 30% to reach C$6.20. eDispatch.com Wire jumped by 16% to $12.95, and Ecompark gained another 17%, to reach $1.93.