Stocks jumped Wednesday, recovering most of the previous session's losses, as investors welcomed IBM's quarterly results and purchased bank shares lowered in the recent sell-off. Investors also welcomed signs that President Barack Obama's Treasury nominee, Timothy Geithner, is likely to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Stocks fell to two-month lows Tuesday, with the Dow industrials closing below 8,000 for the first time since November, as concerns about the banking sector overshadowed Obama's historic inauguration. Light sweet crude oil for March delivery rose $2.71 to $43.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and the yen. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 279.01, or 3.5 percent, to 8,228.10. IBM reported quarterly profits late Tuesday that rose from a year earlier and surpassed estimates. Shares of the computer services company rose 11 percent. Banking shares rallied after falling sharply on Tuesday. Shares of Citigroup and Bank of America each rose 31 percent. However, several Dow components fell. General Electric lost 8 percent after analysts lowered their stock-price targets for the conglomerate. United Technologies reported higher quarterly profits that surpassed forecasts, but the defense contractor's shares fell 3 percent. General Motors was surpassed in global sales by Toyota, and the troubled automaker's shares fell 8 percent. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 35.02, or 4.35 percent, to 840.24. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 66.21, or 4.6 percent, to 1,507.07. Apple shares gained 4 percent ahead of its quarterly report. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 215.93 to 5,273.99. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 27.75 to 1,357.40. And the Russell 2000 index rose 23.11 to 456.76.
