Stocks rise sharply in early trading

July 30, 2009 at 10:35a.m.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks surged in morning trading today as investors welcome better-than-expected earnings and new data on unemployment.

Major indexes are following counterparts overseas, which are rising because of upbeat profit reports.

Japanese shares rose to nearly 10-month highs on better-than-expected earnings at automakers Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co.

European markets were buoyed by better-than-expected results at British telecommunications company BT Group PLC and its French peer Alcatel-Lucent SA as well as the drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC.

Investors also welcomed a weekly unemployment report that showed the number of Americans continuing to collect unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to 6.2 million. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had expected that figure to rise to 6.3 million from 6.23 million last week.