Wall Street Ends on a High Note; Dow Gains 270 Points

Elsewhere, a union of engineers for aerospace firm Boeing (BA Quote) ratified new contracts with the company. The deal covers more than 20,000 workers. Earlier this year, Boeing faced production delays and reduced earnings when its machinists union elected to strike. The stock climbed 2.1% to $40.70.

Meanwhile, Delta Airlines (DAL Quote) announced systemwide capacity cuts of 6% to 8% and said it was assessing the reductions' impact on its employees. Shares jumped 6.4% to $8.47.

An executive from American Airlines parent AMR (AMR Quote) reportedly said the company raised $200 million in the fourth quarter by selling some of its fleet to leasing companies and then renting, and the stock rose 5.2% to $8.45.

Among financial companies, The Wall Street Journal reported that Goldman Sachs (GS Quote) would post a $2 billion loss for the most recent quarter. Goldman lost 1.2% to $65.

Several big technology names were also making headlines. The Wall Street Journal reported that ex-AOL CEO Jonathan Miller is trying to gather money to buy part or all of Yahoo! (YHOO Quote). The stock rocketed 7.1% to $11.50.

Meanwhile, Intel (INTC Quote) and Hitachi (HIT Quote) announced plans to collaborate on development of solid-state drives for servers. Intel tacked on 5.7% to $13.28, and Hitachi added 6.4% to $45.49.

In earnings news, Beazer Homes posted a fourth-quarter loss that tripled from a year ago. Similarly, department-store operator Sears Holdings (SHLD Quote) announced a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss and announced an additional $500 million in planned share repurchases.

Beazer lost 8% to $1.38, and Sears jumped 13% to $36.09.

In the commodities arena, crude oil lost $2.32 to settle at $46.96 a barrel. Gold gained $6.50 to close at $783.30 an ounce.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities were rising in price. The 10-year was up 12/32 to yield 2.69%, and the 30-year was higher by 8/32, yielding 3.20%. The dollar was rising vs. the yen but falling against the euro and pound.

Overseas, European markets, such as the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt, were marking gains. In Asia, both Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished with losses.