US stocks soar

A raft of strong earnings reports buoyed investors’ lagging confidence and sent US stocks sharply higher today, with the Dow Jones industrial average turning in its best showing of the year.

Wall Street bellwether Merrill Lynch posted a record year, while US Steel swung to a profit. And despite slumping profits at drug makers Johnson & Johnson and Merck, their earnings met or surpassed analysts’ forecasts, showing resiliency in the embattled pharmaceutical sector.