Dow climbs back past 9,000 barrier

Wall Street passed another milestone in its budding recovery today as the Dow Jones industrials crossed 9,000 for the first time in six weeks.

Stocks had their second straight advance as another day without bad news strengthened investors’ confidence.

“It is time for a rebound. It is encouraging that this is happening in August at a time when there are a lot of people out of town and not putting in their trades,” said Susan Malley, chief investment officer for Malley Associates Capital Management. “I do think that this firmness, even though it is on light volume, is a sign that the bottom is in.”

The Dow closed up 96.41, or 1.1%, at 9,053.64, according to preliminary calculations. Building on Wednesday’s 85-point gain, the Dow closed above 9,000 for the first time since July 9, when it stood at 9,096.09.

The Dow has recovered 1,351.30 points since its July 23 low of 7,702.34.

The broader market was also higher. The Nasdaq composite index rose 13.69, or 1%, to 1,422.94, having closed above 1,400 on Wednesday for the first time since July 8. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 13.34, or 1.4%, to 962.70.

Investors are feeling more confident about stocks, as seen last week when all the indexes scored their second straight weekly gains, a feat last seen in the two-week period ending March 8.

Wall Street also owes its gains to a welcome break from major earnings shortfalls, disappointing economic reports and bookkeeping scandals.

“The lack of bad news over the past few weeks has been encouraging,” said Thomas Lydon Jr, president of Global Trends Investments.

“People are taking a deep breath and looking for opportunities while they are still around.”

Among Thursday’s gainers, Microsoft rose 95 cents to 53.23 dollars after Salomon Smith Barney upgraded the stock to “outperform” from “neutral.”

Other tech bellwethers also advanced. IBM rose 99 cents to 81.99 dollars, while Hewlett-Packard gained 60 cents to 15.30 dollars.

Wall Street’s gains were spread across a broad range of sectors, which analysts attributed to prices having fallen to attractive levels.

Citigroup climbed 83 cents to 35.18 dollars, Johnson & Johnson rose 1.31 to 49.32 dollars, and General Motors advanced 1.31 to 49.32 dollars.

Talbots rose 1.32 to 34.52 dollars after Merrill Lynch raised its 2002 and 2003 earnings estimates for the retailer. The advance also came a day after the company beat quarterly profit expectations.

But weaker-than-expected earnings weighed on Men’s Wearhouse, down 1.07 at 19.35 dollars, and Barnes & Noble, down 50 cents at 22.93 dollars. Both companies reported results that fell short of forecasts.

Despite better-than-expected second-quarter earnings, Williams-Sonoma fell 1.65 to 25 dollars after also cutting its yearly forecast.

Investors keep close tabs how retailers are faring because consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of the economy.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners slightly more than two to one on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was light.

The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, rose 2.88, or 0.7%, to 409.67.