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8B – Daily News – Wednesday, April 27, 2011 News tip? Call 527-2151 Earnings drive stocks to 2011 highs Wall Street NEW YORK (AP) — Stock indexes jumped to their highest levels since the end of the financial crisis Monday thanks to signs that earnings are rising for U.S. companies and consumers are feeling more confident about the economy. The Russell 2000, the benchmark index of small companies, neared a record high. The Standard and Poor’s 500 index — the benchmark for most mutual funds — gained 13 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,347. If the S&P 500 closes above 1,343, it will set a high for the year and reach its highest level since June 2008. The Dow Jones industrial average also marked a new high for the year, rising 120 points, or 1 percent, to 12,599. The Nasdaq composite rose 25 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,850. The Russell 2000 hovered near 855, near the record high of 855.77 that it reached in July 2007. Better than expected earnings reports from companies ranging from airlines to office products manufac- turers helped drive a broad stock mar- ket rally that included all 10 company groups that make up the S&P index. Industrial companies gained nearly 2 percent, the most of any group. Ford Motor Co. rose more than 2 percent after the carmaker reported its best first quarter earnings since 1998. Ford beat Wall Street’s earnings esti- mates with stronger sales of new vehicles. 3M Co., the maker of Post- Its and Scotch Tape, also rose 2 per- cent after it raised its full-year earn- ings expectations. The company said quarterly profit jumped 16 percent from a year ago, beating analysts’ estimates. Delta Air Lines Inc. said rising fuel prices played a large role in push- ing its quarterly loss to 38 cents a share. Analysts expected worse. Delta jumped 10 percent. Engine-maker Cummins Inc. gained 8 percent after it said that it was raising its profit forecast for the year because of strong demand. United Parcel Service Inc. rose 1 percent after the company raised its earnings estimate for the year. Stocks also got a lift from a report on consumer confidence that showed that worries about rising prices and unemployment eased in April. Among the encouraging signs, those Every Friday in the D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY Coupon Queen A new column to help you save money 9th Annual FIBER ON THE FOOT Natural Fiber Producer’s Livestock Show & Fiber Festival May 7, 9 to 5 Fairgrounds, RB who said jobs are “hard to get” dropped, while those who expected higher incomes rose. The market’s continued rebound is crucial to luring nervous Americans back into investing in stocks, said Alan Gayle, senior investment strate- gist at RidgeWorth Investments in Richmond, Va. Gayle said he talks to a lot of retail investors who were burned when markets dropped in 2000 and 2008 and remain wary of putting their sav- ings into stocks. “The stock market in the last 10 years has disappointed a lot of investors,” Gayle said. “There are some lasting scars there.” Oh Snap! The Daily News wants your photos Send pictures to edi- tor@redbluffdailynews.c om or drop off at 545 Diamond Ave. in Red Bluff. Include a caption.