IBM Surges 15% and Techs Follow

Strong earnings from

IBM

(IBM) - Get Report

and others helped boost stocks early on as the major market averages soared.

IBM after the close Wednesday reported first-quarter earnings of $1.55 a share, flying past the 20-analyst

First Call

estimate of $1.41 and up from the year-ago $1.06.

TheStreet.com

wrote about IBM's earnings report in a story

last night.

IBM, a

Dow Jones Industrial Average

component, was up 26 1/8, or 15%, to 198.

The Dow was up 128 to 10,709. The

S&P 500

was up 13 to 1348. The

Nasdaq Composite Index

was up 72 to 2561. The

Russell 2000

was up 5 to 432.

TheStreet.com Internet Sector

index was up 30 to 666.

The 30-year Treasury bond was down 7/32 to 95 26/32, yielding 5.54%.

On the earnings front recently,

McDonald's

(MCD) - Get Report

posted first-quarter earnings of 29 cents a share, in line with the 15-analyst estimate and up from the year-ago 26 cents. McDonald's was up 3/8 to 45 3/4.

Most Up at Open -- NYSE

IBM (IBM) - Get Report, up 25 3/8 to 197 1/4

.

Most Up at Open -- Nasdaq

CNet (CNET) - Get Report, up 28 15/16 to 148 11/16

: CNet after the close posted earnings that blew past Wall Street earnings estimates for the first quarter and announced a 2-for-1 stock split.

Most Down at Open -- NYSE

Chase (CMB) , down 1 11/16 to 81 3/4

.

Most Down at Open -- Nasdaq

Adac Labs (ADAC) , down 5 11/16 to 6 15/16

: The company warned it sees lower revenue for the rest of the fiscal year due to a new company revenue recognition policy and weaker demand.