Wall Street rallies on debt ceiling extension

NEW YORK, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks rebounded to close higher Tuesday, as the White House welcomed a temporary extension to the debt ceiling, with both Dow Jones Industrial Average and Standard & Poor's 500-stock Index hitting more than five-year highs.

The Dow rallied 62.43 points, or 0.46 percent, to 13,712.13. The broader S&P 500 Index gained 6.53 points, or 0.44 percent, to 1,492.51. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 8.47 points, or 0.27 percent, to 3,143.18.

The market rebounded strongly in the afternoon session, offsetting all earlier losses, after receiving reports that U.S. President Barack Obama would not block a short-term extension of the debt limit that is scheduled to pass the House of Representatives Wednesday.

The U.S. equity market opened flat due to mixed earnings results from notable U.S. companies and weak stock markets in Asia and Europe, after a closing Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Verizon Communications shares reversed early losses to trade 0. 89 percent higher at 42.92 U.S. dollars though the telecom giant's quarterly earnings released before the opening bell missed analysts' expectations.

Shares of Johnson & Johnson edged down 0.71 percent to 72.71 dollars. The company's earnings report released Tuesday was generally positive, but its downside 2013 earnings guidance led to the stock's weakness.

Delta Air Lines said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter profit was nearly wiped out by Superstorm Sandy and special charges, meeting market estimations. The Atlanta-based carrier added 2.87 percent to 14 dollars, leading the Dow transportation sector.

DuPont shares gained 1.74 percent to 47.81 dollars after the chemical producer issued 2013 earnings guidance above market expectations.

Google jumped over 4 percent after the tech giant reported after closing bell that its revenue in the core Internet business surged 22 percent to 12.91 billion dollars in the fourth quarter.

On the economic front, U.S. existing home sales for December lost one percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million units, weaker than market estimates, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's index of the manufacturing activity fell in January to minus 12 from 5 the month before.

Tuesday's gains followed a third consecutive week of advances due to upbeat economic data and progress on the U.S. debt ceiling issue.

McDonald's is expected to announce its fourth quarter results ahead of opening bell Wednesday.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery gained 0.71 percent to settle at 96.24 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. The February contract expired on Tuesday after trading, and the more active March contract rose 0.67 percent to close at 96.68 dollars a barrel.

Brent crude for March delivery inched up 0.64 percent to close at 112.42 dollars a barrel on Tuesday.

The U.S. dollar retreated against Japanese yen as the Bank of Japan's open-ended asset purchasing program was in consistent with market expectations.

Gold for February delivery on the COMEX was also up 0.37 percent to settle at 1,693.2 dollars per ounce thanks to a relatively weakened dollar.

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