Wall Street posts a trifecta

Wall Street rose again overnight, Australian time,for the third consecutive day.
That happened as a computer giant reported strong profits and oil prices continued to ease.

The Dow Jones industrial index closed 52.19 points up on the day, at 12,646.22.

But the market had been 130 points higher, earlier in the day.

Financial stocks captured much of the day’s attention.

Mastercard predicted strong revenue growth.

And shareholders approved the buyout of Bear Stearns.
The S&P 500 closed 7.42 points higher at 1,398.26.

And the tech heavy NASDAQ composite index rose 21.62 points to 2,508.32.

The rises occurred after Dell reported a first quarter profit of $US784 million, or 38 US cents a share.

Analysts had been predicting a profit of 34US cents a share.

Oil futures, too, continued to fall. They easedl by $US4.60 a barrel, to $US126.43