For Second Day, Late Rebound for Shares

Stocks rose yesterday in another late-day rally as enthusiasm about strong earnings tempered nervousness about more weakness in credit conditions with news that another mortgage lender may fold.

Stocks surged late in the session, echoing the previous day's last-minute rally. Bets that the market would drop were reversed after stocks shook off further evidence of a deteriorating lending environment.

"Volatility has definitely increased," said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management in Chicago.

"There is an overall sense of unease," he said, "which is being offset by, generally speaking, good earnings."

The pharmacy chain CVS Caremark and Viacom were among companies that posted results that exceeded Wall Street's expectations, sending their shares higher. Shares of Viacom, owner of MTV Networks, the Paramount movie studios and the Nickelodeon cable channels, rose 1 percent, to .39. CVS shares gained 3.5 percent, to .79.

The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 100.96 points, or 0.76 percent, to end at 13,463.33. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 6.39 points, or 0.44 percent, to 1,472.20. The Nasdaq composite index climbed 22.11 points, or 0.87 percent, to close at 2,575.98. The Russell 2000 index rose 6.07 points, or 0.78 percent, to 783.99.

It was the first time in three weeks that the S.& P. 500 had risen for two days in a row.

But the market is still struggling to leave credit jitters behind for good. Concerns that worsening credit conditions could hurt the economy pushed the S.& P. 500 down in July to its worst monthly performance in three years.

Treasury debt prices rose as the nagging concerns about credit conditions drove investors to the relative safety of bonds. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note traded 6/32 higher in price, to 97 30/32, for a yield of 4.77 percent, from 4.79 percent on Wednesday. Bond prices move inversely to yields.

Crude oil settled up 33 cents, at .86 a barrel, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

More bad news came from the bond insurer MBIA, which said delinquencies were rising among some subprime home loans serviced by the Countrywide Financial Corporation, the largest United States mortgage lender.

Shares of Countrywide fell 1.7 percent to .77 on the New York Stock Exchange. But after the closing bell, Countrywide said its financial condition remained strong, sending its shares up 2.7 percent, to .50, in electronic trade.

News that the electronic payment company CheckFree was being bought for .2 billion in cash helped lift the Nasdaq. CheckFree shares jumped 23.3 percent, to .40.

Hewlett-Packard's stock rose 3.2 percent, to .23, ranking among the biggest advancers in both the Dow and the S.& P. 500. UBS raised its price target on Hewlett-Packard, the computer and printer maker, and kept its buy rating.

Shares of Viacom, owner of MTV Networks, Paramount movie studios and Nickelodeon cable channels, rose 1 percent to .39, while CVS's shares gained 3.5 percent to .79, both on the Big Board.

News that jobless claims increased slightly less than expected last week from the previous week cheered investors. But they were less enthused about a government report showing new orders at United States factories rose less than expected in June.