Two unexpected names led the Nasdaq higher on Wednesday.
Better than expected quarterly results from Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) and Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) sent the Nasdaq soaring on Wednesday, while the broader market surged on hopes for a plan to relieve banks of their troubled assets.
Sun shares soared 22% after the company beat estimates and slashed its cash burn rate, and Yahoo jumped 8% on its first results under new CEO Carol Bartz.
The broader market surged ahead of a House vote on an $825 billion economic stimulus package and hopes for more aggressive action from the Federal Reserve and a "bad bank" plan from the Obama administration.
Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) was a big winner, up 8%, and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) rose 4% ahead of its results due out after the close on Thursday. Late in the day, Dell announced that it will take a $280 million restructuring and stock option charge. It will report results Feb. 26.
Avanex (NASDAQ: AVNX) soared 41% on a merger deal with Bookham (NASDAQ: BKHM).
SAP (NYSE: SAP) gained 4% on its results and layoff plans.
AMD (NYSE: AMD) was another big gainer, up 10%.
Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) climbed in after-hours trading on its results.
The Nasdaq surged 53 to 1558, the S&P 500 gained 28 to 874, and the Dow surged 200 to 8375. Volume rose to 7.15 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.17 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancers led by a 32-5 margin on the NYSE, and 21-6 edge on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 89% on the NYSE, and 88% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 8-57 on the NYSE, and 7-54 on the Nasdaq.