US stocks eke out gains US stocks have rallied from intraday lows, picking up momentum after a dreary open and ending the day narrowly in the black. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3.22 to 15,558.83, after sinking as low as 15,405.16 earlier in the session.The broad-based S&P 500 finished 1.40, or 0.1 per cent, higher at 1691.65, while the Nasdaq Composite Index put on 7.98, or 0.2 per cent, to 3613.16. Key markets in offshore trade: SPI futures rose 8 points to 5016, indicating small market gains on Monday The dollar was buying 92.58 US cents, largely unchanged from Friday On Wall Street, the Dow, the S&P500 and the Nasdaq all posted minimal gains London's FTSE 100 lost 0.5%, Frankfurt's DAX sank 0.65%, but Paris rose 0.3% WTI crude oil fell 79 cents to $US104.70, while Brent lost 48 cents to $US107.17 Spot gold fell 0.2 per cent to $US1330.30 per ounce, but still rose 3% for the week With just three trading days left in the month, the S&P 500 is set to post its best month since October 2011. The Nasdaq's advance makes July so far the best month in a year and a half. "I was surprised we ended up, but people have a sense of optimism about the market," said Matt McCormick, a money manager at Cincinnati-based Bahl & Gaynor. The bad news from the morning was digested and discarded. Earnings haven't been as bad as people expected, and the political issues aren't in the forefront right now. That could change at any moment, but enjoy the summer rally while you can. Analysts said volume was low as is typical for a Friday in late July. The day was fairly light in economic news and corporate earnings results. Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey, said the market began to turn around on news that President Barack Obama had not reached a decision on who will succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and on optimism that the central bank will keep monetary policy accommodative. "At least today, the market is expecting the Fed to offer no surprises, and if anything, to be maybe a bit more dovish," she said. Speculation over who Bernanke's successor could be has caused anxiety in the market, with investors wondering how different the next chair's policies would be. The timing of the announcement is also tricky as the Fed simultaneously considers when to begin pulling back its $US85 billion a month in bond purchases. The prospect that former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers might get the nod, and not current Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen, has concerned investors. Yellen is seen as more likely to provide a smooth transition after Bernanke's term ends, while Summers is viewed as more critical of the effectiveness of the central bank's stimulus. Starbucks surged 7.6 per cent higher after earnings jumped 25 per cent on strong increases in comparable-store sales, including a 9 per cent rise in the US. Online travel booking company Expedia plummeted 27.4 per cent after earnings of 64 cents per share lagged analyst expectations by 18 cents. Revenues also fell short of estimates. Online game developer Activision Blizzard shot up 15.0 per cent after announcing a pair of transactions in which the company and an investor group led by the company's chief executive and cho-chairman would purchase from Vivendi a total of more than $US8 billion ($8.7 billion) worth of shares. Vivendi will no longer be the majority shareholder following the transactions. Dow component Boeing dipped 1.0 per cent on news that Qatar Airways reportedly had grounded a 787 Dreamliner aircraft and All Nippon Airways had found minor damage on two emergency beacons on another 787. Online bookseller Amazon reversed early losses and ended 2.8 per cent higher despite reporting a $US7 million quarterly loss. But revenues met expectations, leaping 22 per cent to $US15.7 billion. Oil-services giant Halliburton jumped 3.7 per cent after announcing plans to hold a modified ""Dutch auction"" to repurchase up to $US3.3 billion in shares. The announcement came as the Justice Department announced Halliburton agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence related to the Deepwater Horizon oil-spill disaster. Halliburton said it would pay a $US200,000 fine in the settlement. Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond fell to 2.56 per cent from 2.61 per cent late on Thursday, while the 30-year dropped to 3.62 per cent from 3.67 per cent. Bond prices and yields move inversely. AFP, Reuters