US stocks rally on upbeat earnings

US stocks rallied in early trade on Wednesday as upbeat earnings from major technology companies’ boosted sentiment for corporate-profit trends.

The S&P 500 Index advanced 17.91 points, or 1.49 percent, to trade at 1,330.64 at 10:15 a.m. EDT. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 182.44 points, or 1.49 percent, to trade at 12,449.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 1.93 percent.

Shares of Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) surged 6.12 percent after forecasting quarterly revenues well above analysts’ estimates. Intel expects second quarter revenue of $12.8 billion, plus or minus $500 million, and adjusted revenue of $12.85 billion, plus or minus $500 million. Street analysts predict revenue of $11.87 billion. Its first quarter net income rose to $3.3 billion or 59 cents a share compared to $2.5 billion or 43 cents a share last year.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) shares surged 6.32 percent to $17.14 as its first quarter earnings exceeded Street view. Adjusted profit was $249 million or 19 cents a share, up from $217.1 million or 15 cents a share last year. Analysts had expected profit of 16 cents a share on revenue of $1.06 billion.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) shares surged 4.51 percent to $54.05 after reporting first quarter net income of $1.57 per share compared to $1 per share in the same quarter last year.

On the economic front, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that sales of previously occupied homes rose 3.7 percent to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.1 million units in March from an upwardly revised 4.92 million units in February. Economists had expected existing home sales to gain to the 5.00 million units in March. Year-over-year, existing home sales fell 6.3 percent from 5.44 million in March 2010.

The euro advanced 1.32 percent to 1.4524 against the dollar and the yen gained 0.16 percent against the greenback.

Crude oil futures gained 1.03 percent to $109.40/barrel and gold futures rose 0.49 percent.

European stock markets are currently trading higher with FTSE 100 up by 117.35 points, DAX30 up by 190.96 points and CAC 40 up by 86.98 points.