NEW YORK (AP) - Strong earnings from technology companies including Intel Corp. sent stocks sharply higher Wednesday. The Nasdaq composite index had its biggest one-day jump in six months, and the Dow Jones industrial average closed at its highest level in nearly three years.
Intel rose 7.8 percent, the most of the 30 companies in the Dow average, after the chip-maker reported that its income rose 29 percent in the first quarter because of rising demand for personal computers. The results easily beat analysts' expectations and allayed concerns that surging sales of tablet computers would hurt Intel's results.
Industrial conglomerate United Technologies Corp. rose 4 percent. The company's income jumped 17 percent, also beating Wall Street expectations. The company also raised its forecast for 2011 profit.
The Dow jumped 186.79 points, or 1.5 percent, to close at 12,453.54. That's the highest since June 5, 2008.
