国际英语新闻：Wall Street mixed before earnings

NEW YORK, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street ended mixed Monday, with the Standard & Poor's 500 index rising for all six sessions of the new year, as investors expected strong corporate results ahead of a new earnings season.

    Main averages followed overseas markets higher in the early trade after a new report showed Chinese exports jumped by nearly 18 percent in December, the first increase after 13 straight months of declines. The stronger-than-expected report added to evidence that a global economic recovery is well on the way.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, January 11, 2010

    Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, rose 3.79 U.S. dollars, or 6.3 percent, to 64.13dollars after the report on China's exports and as some commodity prices gained.

    Investors were hesitant to make major bets ahead of earnings report from Alcoa, Dow industrials component and aluminum producer that was going to release its results for the fourth quarter of 2009 after the bell. Alcoa climbed 43 cents, or 2.5 percent, to 17.45 dollars, helping lift the Dow Monday.

A trading specialist works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, January 11, 2010

With Alcoa kicking off a new earnings season, major companies including Intel Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are going to announce their fourth-quarter earnings this week. Analysts were expecting a stunning 180 percent year-on-year surge in operating earnings for S&P 500 companies.

    Some parts of the market that rose Monday, however, signaled that investors remain concerned about the economy. Areas like utilities and consumer staples rose, which are seen as safer during tough economies because they produce necessities.

    With major indexes rising in the first week of 2010 and S&P 500continuing to rise to a fresh 15-month closing high, analysts were expecting 2010 to be another gaining year. According to the Stock Trader's Almanac, the S&P 500 has posted full-year gains 31 of the last 36 times the index rose during the first week of the year.

    The Dow Jones added 45.80, or 1043 percent, to 10,663.99. Broader indexes ended mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added2.00, or 0.17 percent, to 1,146.98 and the Nasdaq dropped 4.76, or0.21 percent, to 2,312.41.