Dow Salutes September With a 255-Point Gain

Mining equipment manufacturer Joy Global (JOYG) offered up a hopeful sign after raising its full-year guidance. Third-quarter profit slid to $1.13 a share, which still bested estimates, though sales landed at a lighter-than-expected $850 million. But orders jumped 51% during the quarter. Its stock added 6.4% to $60.16 a share.

Vivendi, the France-based media conglomerate, also raised its 2010 guidance, though second-quarter earnings fell more than 3%.

After pre-announcing earnings at an event Tuesday, ketchup maker H.J. Heinz (HNZ) beat both top and bottom line first-quarter estimates Wednesday morning, as expected. Heinz also echoed its sales and earnings growth guidance for the full-year, expecting 3% to 4% growth for the former and a 7% to 10% jump per share for the latter. Shares finished just higher by 0.2% at $46.31 today.

Shares for plus-size retailer Charming Shoppes (CHRS), which had been expected to report a profit of 6 cents a share, tumbled more than 12% to $2.96 after recording a second-quarter loss of 7 cents a share.

Within the energy complex, the government said crude inventories rose by 3.4 million barrels last week. Analysts surveyed by Platts were looking for stockpiles to rise by 1.9 million barrels for the week ending Aug. 27. But the Energy Information Administration's report was better than the tally put out by the industry's American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday, saying crude inventories saw a build of 4.76 million barrels, according to Bloomberg.

Gasoline stockpiles fell by 200,000 barrels, the EIA said, while distillate fuel supplies dropped by 700,000 barrels. Projections were calling for a drawdown of 1 million barrels and build of 1 million barrels, respectively.

In commodity markets, crude oil for October delivery added $1.99 to settle at $73.91 a barrel, and the December gold contract settled $2.20 lower at $1,248.10 an ounce.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note was down 30/32, boosting the yield to 2.577%.

Meanwhile, the dollar was trading lower against a basket of currencies, with the dollar index down by 0.8%.

Overseas, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.4% Wednesday, while Japan's Nikkei gained 1.2%. The FTSE in London went ahead by 2.7%, and the DAX in Frankfurt improved by 2.7%.

--Written by Sung Moss in New York.

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