Wall Street: Thursday close

RELIEF that accompanied the passing of Wednesday's deadline for America's company chiefs to vouch for their accounting helped markets rally for a second day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, up 206 points on Wedneday, added 74.83 points or 0.86% to 8818.14. The Nasdaq moved up 10.71 points or 0.80% to 1345.01.

Analysts said that the lack of surprises with the expiration of Wednesday's deadline was 'heartening' to investors, helping erase fears of yet another corporate accounting scandal. Only a handful of companies said they could not file due to unresolved issues and they were telegraphed well in advance.

'Everyone was poo-pooing the relevance of the certification deadline, but it had a good effect,' said Michelle Clayman, chief investment officer at New Amsterdam Partners. 'Almost everyone who needed to certify did.'

Telecoms company Qwest, involved in a re-examination of its books, withheld certification. Qwest shares rose five cents or 3.3% to $1.55. Energy trader Dynegy confirmed that it might have to file for bankruptcy protection if it cannot sell certain assets. Its shares lost 34 cents or 23% to $1.15, down from $47 late last year.

AOL Time Warner, which certified its results subject to a disclaimer covering certain income items, jumped $1.10 or 10% to $12.15. Media rival Vivendi slumped $1.36 or 12% to $10.30 as doubts grew about its financial position.

Pharmaceutical maker Bristol-Myers Squibb indicated it might have to adjust its figures and its shares slid 95 cents or 4% to $22.66.

An announcement from UAL, parent company of United Airlines, made after the close of trading on Wednesday, weighed on the airline sector early, but buyers emerged later in the day. United said it might have to file for bankruptcy soon if it cannot cut costs. UAL shares closed up 25 cents or 10% to $11.86, down from $35 a year ago.

The sector has been in flux since Sunday when US Airways, America's seventh biggest airline, said it was filing for bankruptcy. AMR, parent of American Airlines, rose 52 cents or 6% to $9.20.

The financial services sector was mostly lower after Standard & Poor's placed on credit watch certain classifications of debt issued by the likes of Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. 'The actions are based on the deteriorating environment for the profitability of the investment banking industry,' said S&P credit analyst Tom Foley.

'Although all of these firms have been profitable during the first half of this year, and should remain so, Standard & Poor's anticipates that they will be operating under conditions of sustained revenue pressure and environmental risk.' JP Morgan was the biggest loser in the group, down 35 cents or 1.4% to $24.79.

Techs were generally higher. Dell Computer was trading fractionally higher at $27.30 in extended hours' trading after meeting expectations with its quarterly report. An upgrade from Lehman helped Hewlett-Packard rise 37 cents or 2.5% to $15. Switch maker Brocade Communications jumped 91 cents or 6% to $15.96 as it issued a strong quarterly report.

Wal-Mart, up 8% on Wednesday, gained another $2.09 or 4% to $54.71 on hopes that the migration of shoppers to its discount stores would continue.