Wall Street report: Tuesday close

WALL Street broke a long-running hex by stitching together two big winning sessions in a row. Strong retail sales and a blockbuster quarterly report from

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, up 169 points on Monday, surged 189.24 points or 1.9% to 10,298.90. The Nasdaq Index rose 66.52 points or 4.1% to 1719.06.

Analysts had been cautious before the start of trading, fearing another 'one day wonder' after last Wednesday's 300-point rally in the Dow was followed by two days of heavy selling. Some remained wary. 'I'm not a believer yet,' said Ted Southworth of investment firm Northern Trust Global. 'Markets need to stay strong for a few days to prove they can hold a trend.'

Washington helped set the stage when it reported that retail sales jumped 1.2% in April, twice the increase expected. The data cast doubt over recent assumptions that the economy might have pulled back in April after surging out of recession earlier in the year. Some of the recent choppy trading on Wall Street had been attributed to worries that the consumer might be drawing back on spending plans, endangering recovery and undermining hopes for a profit recovery for corporate America.

Wal-Mart became the star of the show when it said its net income leapt 20% in the most recent quarter on a 14% jump in sales. Wal-Mart shares jumped $2.35 or 4.3% to $57.39. Other retailers benefited from the news. Do-it-yourself chain Home Depot, also a component of the Dow, climbed $2.36 or 5.2% to $47.98. Sears, which on Monday said it would pay $1.9bn for catalogue retailer Lands' End, moved up $2.89 or 5.6% to $54.89.

Media shares were helped by a stronger-than-expected quarterly update from News Corp. Helped by $300m in box office sales for the movie Ice Age, News Corp posted numbers well above analysts' expectations despite a write-off to cover a drop in market value for 42%-owned Gemstar-TV Guide. News Corp.'s US shares were bid up $2.07 or 8% to $28.45.

Other media shares basked in the positive attention, with Walt Disney higher by 95 cents or 4% to $24.40. AOL Time Warner had a better time of it as well, finishing the day ahead $1.20 or 7% to $18.55.

Bristol-Myers Squibb was marked up $1.83 or 6.5% to $30.20, down from $60 last August, after GlaxoSmithKline said the US pharmaceutical company was 'on its radar screen'. Bristol-Myers' has a market value of just under $60bn. Glaxo's US shares closed down fractionally at $47.94.

Techs were strong with positive analyst comments about Intel playing into the mix. Intel firmed $1.63 or 5.7% to $30.15. Microsoft rose $2.34 or 4.4% to $55.03. IBM added $3.29 or 4% to $85.48.

More good news came to the tech sector after the close when semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials handily topped quarterly expectations and its shares, up $1.06 or 4% to $26.64 in regular trading, vaulted an additional 9%.

Financials also benefited from the broad-based rally with JP MorganChase ahead $1.25 or 3.4% to $37.59 and Citigroup higher by $1.16 or 2.6% to $45.40.

One company not participating was embattled telecoms firm WorldCom, with a decline of 20 cents or 14% to $1.24, near a new low, as it was dropped from the S&P 500 index.