US Stock Market Cautiously Optimistic; Dow Ends Above 11,000

With aluminum giant Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) kicking off the first-quarter earnings season yesterday, US stocks moved up throughout the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added roughly 8 points to end at 11,005.97, finishing above the 11,000 mark for the first time since September 26, 2008. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index moved up 2.11 points to 1,196.48 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 3.82 points at 2,457.87.

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, AA rose 1.3% and Caterpillar Inc (NYSE: CAT) climbed 2.2% yesterday. AA is the first of the Dow's 30 components to report its first-quarter results. The other big names that are due to report their results are Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC), Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) and General Electric Co (NYSE: GE). JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) is also slated to release its results on Wednesday.

Investor sentiments were also boosted by activity on the corporate M&A front. While Mirant Corp (NYSE: MIR) agreed to acquire its rival power firm Reliant Energy Inc (NYSE: RRI) for $1.61 billion, DynCorp International (NYSE: DCP) was taken out by private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management.

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