Falling oil prices and strong earnings from home improvement retailer Lowe’s sent US stocks higher today as investors regained their optimism about corporate profits and the health of the economy.

A drop in oil prices and upbeat outlooks from Wal-Mart and Lowe’s prompted some bargain-hunting on Wall Street, sending stocks sharply higher today, with the swing exaggerated by thin late summer trading. The Dow Jones industrials surged nearly 130 points higher.

Technology shares sank today on disappointing news from Intel, briefly pushing the Nasdaq composite index into negative territory for the year despite a brighter forecast from wireless equipment maker Qualcomm.

A CRIMINAL’S house auctioned by the Criminal Assets Bureau this week fetched almost 100,000 euro more than the guide price, it emerged yesterday.