Market continues to rise

AN upgrade of software leader Microsoft and strength in blue chips including Hewlett-Packard and Home Depot were among the factors pushing stocks higher at midday yesterday, with the Dow Jones industrial average spending time above the 9,000 level.

At around 11:40am ET, the Dow Jones gained 65.06 to 9,022.09, continuing a more than 1,300-point resurgence since July 23.

The Nasdaq composite gained 9.12 to 1,418.37. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 9.61 to 958.97.