US stocks rise

US stocks rallied on Wall Street today after oil futures fell by more than 1 dollar a barrel and Dow Jones industrial average component Boeing said its earnings had more than doubled.

A late afternoon tumble in oil prices sent stocks higher in the final hour of trading. Oil fell 1.36 a barrel to settle at 66.56 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Stocks had stayed in a tight range most of the day, following Google’s fourth-quarter earnings, which missed analysts’ estimates, the first time the company has not pleasantly surprised investors since its August 2004 initial public offering. It closed down 30.88 dollars, or 7.1%, at 401.78 dollars.

Analysts were reassured by the fact that the overall market, which traded in a tight range during January, was not overwhelmed by Google’s results.

“The fact that the market is continuing to stay at the upper end of the trading range, even with oil prices continuing to hover around their highs, is positive, it indicates investor confidence,” said Peter Cardillo, chief strategist, senior vice president and market analyst, SW Bach & Co.

The Dow rose 89.09, or 0.82%, to 10,953.95.

Broader indexes were higher. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 2.38, or 0.19%, to close at 1,282.46, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 4.74, or 0.21%, to 2,310.56.