国际英语新闻：Dow breaks through 12,000 amid optimism

NEW YORK, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The blue-chip Dow broke through the psychologically important 12,000 mark on Wednesday for the first time in two and a half years, but edged lower in afternoon trading.

The U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as investors digested the Fed meeting, President Barack Obama's State of the Union address and another round of corporate earnings.

The Federal Reserve said that the economy was not growing fast enough to lower unemployment, and vowed to press ahead with its 600 billion dollars Treasury bond-purchase program.

Obama said in his State of the Union address late Tuesday that he wanted to close corporate tax loopholes and use the additional revenue to lower corporate tax rates for the first time in 25 years. That change would be popular with business leaders, as the United States has some of the highest corporate tax rates in the industrialized world.

The market was also boosted by a jump in new home sales in December. The optimism offset the weak profit forecasts from Boeing Co., Xerox Corp. and other big names.

Boeing Co. reported that its 2011 profit would be hurt by delays to its new 787 model and higher pension expenses.

Eastman Kodak Co. said its fourth-quarter net income tumbled 95 percent as results were undermined by weaker camera revenue, sharply lower royalties from digital-imaging inventions and a large gain a year earlier.

ConocoPhillips said its fourth-quarter earnings jumped 54 percent despite a drop in production, as crude prices increased. United Continental Holdings Inc. reported it lost 325 million dollars in the fourth quarter because of expenses from combining United and Continental airlines.

The Dow Jones industrial average increased 8.25 points, or 0.07 percent, to 11,985.44. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.46 points, or 0.42 percent, to 1,296.64 and the Nasdaq was up 20.25 points, or 0.74 percent, to 2,739.50.