BEA Systems Inc, whose software runs Web-based programs, rose US$1.09 to US$11.87. Lehman Brothers Inc analyst Neil Herman said the company had a "very solid" first quarter and may have beaten his earnings estimate of US$0.07 a share by a penny.
ChevronTexaco, the No. 2 US oil company, rose US$2.35 to US$65.35. Its first-quarter profit excluding certain items more than doubled to US$1.99 a share. On that basis, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected US$1.81 on average. Earnings were the highest since Chevron Corp bought Texaco Inc in 2001.
Exxon Mobil, the world's biggest publicly traded oil company, gained US$0.56 to US$36.04. The company yesterday said its profit tripled last quarter as oil prices rose 56 percent on average and gas prices doubled in the period.
Airline stocks surged after Merrill Lynch & Co analyst Michael Lindenberg said their losses may narrow in 2003 and the threat of bankruptcy for some companies has diminished. He boosted his rating on five carriers, propelling the Amex Airline Index to a 11 percent gain -- its biggest in more than a month.
Alaska Air Group Inc gained US$2.06 to US$19.77, Continental Airlines Inc surged US$1.94 to US$11.80, Delta Air Lines Inc climbed US$1.75 to US$14.75, Frontier Airlines Inc added US$1.36 to US$7.62 and Northwest Airlines Corp rallied US$1.30 to US$9.85. Lindenberg upgraded them to "buy" from "neutral." United Technologies Corp, the maker of Pratt & Whitney jet engines, added US$1.74 to US$63.40. Boeing Co, the world's largest planemaker, rose US$1.51 to US$28.62. The two stocks, along with IBM, accounted for a quarter of the Dow average's advance.
Cigna Corp, the third-largest US health insurer, dropped US$2.87 to US$50.78. It said profit declined 14 percent last quarter as premiums rose less than medical costs. The company also lost customers.
Unilever NV's US shares tumbled US$6.22 to US$57.07. The world's biggest maker of household products said first-quarter sales of its top brands, such as Knorr soups, grew less than it had forecast.
S&P 500 futures expiring in June gained 12.40 to 927.40 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. June futures on the Nasdaq-100 Index jumped 25.50 to 1139.00. The index, a benchmark for Nasdaq's largest companies, rose 23.30 to 1136.51.
Nasdaq-100 tracking shares, known by their QQQ ticker, gained 59 cents to US$28.28. The S&P 500 shares known as Spiders added US$1.31 to US$93.21.
The Russell 2000 Index of smaller stocks rose 8.84, or 2.2 percent, to 407.67. The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index, the broadest measure of US shares, gained 135.66, or 1.6 percent, to 8834.06. Based on changes in the Wilshire, the total value of US stocks increased by US$162.8 billion.
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