Wall Street ends higher; Dow ends up 70 pts

The US markets saw a late rebound led by financials. Expectations about the white paper on the US bank stress test and some better-than-expected earnings helped offset gloomy economic data.
Most bank stocks rallied as participants prepare for the treasury's announcement regarding bank stress test measures. The white paper will be released today and final results to be released on May 4. Bank of America rose 6.8%; JP Morgan added 4.1% and Wells Fargo shot up 11%. But Citigroup slipped 1.5%. Also Read - How ADRs performed
Tech major Microsoft rose as much as 5.9% in extended trading after reporting a smaller drop in third-quarter profit than anticipated and predicting bigger cost savings this year. Excluding one-time items, it reported a profit of 39 cents a share in its fiscal third quarter, on a top line of $ 13.65 billion. Net income fell to fell to $ 2.98 billion, or 33 cents a share.
It has also withdrawn its profit forecasts in January due to the uncertain economy and said it expected weakness in its markets to continue through at least the next quarter. It reaffirmed plans to eliminate as many as 5,000 jobs by the middle of 2010, with the goal of saving $ 1.5 billion annually in operating expenses.
American Express reported earnings that declined from last year as the company struggled with higher bad loans, but the results easily outstripped analysts' estimates, sending its stock up by 5% in late trading. Profit from continuing operations in the first quarter declined 58% to $ 443 million, or 32 cents a share, from $ 1 billion, or 89 cents, a year earlier. Consolidated revenue fell 18% to $ 5.9 billion, but consolidated expenses fell 22% to $ 3.6 billion, helped by a restructuring plan.
In economic news, existing-home sales dropped 3% to a $ 4.57 million annual rate in March, lower than the 4.7% pace expected and February's downwardly revised $ 4.71 million rate.
Meanwhile, strains of concern in the economic data in US weekly jobless claims rise in-line with expectations while existing home sales slide more than expected. Initial jobless claims rose by 27,000 last week. The four-week moving average lowered slightly but continuing claims shot up to a record $ 6.137 million.
The Dow rose 70.49 points, or 0.9%, to 7,957.06. The S&P 500 index added 8.37 points, or 1%, to 851.92, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.09 points, or 0.4%, to 1,652.21.