US STOCKS-Wall St hits 12-month highs; Apple up after the bell

                                
  
                                
 * Caterpillar rallies on broker comments
                                
 * Apple shares jump 7 pct in extended trading
                                
 * Dow up 1 pct; S&P 500 up 0.9 pct; Nasdaq up 0.9 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates with Apple results, Texas Instruments, volume)
                                
 By Rodrigo Campos
                                
 NEW YORK, Oct 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose to fresh
12-month highs on Monday as optimistic investors rode a wave
of solid quarterly earnings, which continued after the
session's close when Apple Inc's shares jumped on its
results.
                                
 Earnings from companies, including Gannett Co Inc <GCI.N>,
which beat analysts' expectations, and positive broker
commentary on Caterpillar Inc <CAT.N> further encouraged
investors looking for confirmation the economy is healing.
                                
 After the closing bell, Apple Inc <AAPL.O> extended the
stocks' momentum following the iPhone maker's results that
also beat estimates and lifted U.S. stock index futures. Its
shares jumped 7 percent in extended trading.
                                
 "The fact that they beat as aggressively as they have
tells me that they are selling music, telephones and personal
computers in a market where everyone has thought up until now
that the consumer is dead," said Phil Orlando, chief equity
market strategist at Federated Investors in New York.
                                
 "So clearly the rumors of the demise of the American
consumer have been greatly exaggerated. Either that or Apple
is just doing a phenomenal job that consumers can't help
themselves, they have to buy their products."
                                
 Consumer spending is a closely watched economic indicator,
as it accounts for roughly two-thirds of the U.S. economy.
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> added 96.28
points, or 0.96 percent, to end at 10,092.19. The Standard &
Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 10.23 points, or 0.94 percent,
to 1,097.91. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 19.52
points, or 0.91 percent, to 2,176.32.
                                
 The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 closed at levels not
seen since October 2008, while Nasdaq is at an almost 13-month
closing high.
                                
 APPLE JUMPS AFTER THE BELL
                                
 Apple's stock rose above $203 in extended trading after
the company reported better-than-expected results as iPhone
and Mac sales hit quarterly records. For details see
[ID:nN19395089]. Apple shares jumped 7 percent to $203.23.
                                
 Chip maker Texas Instruments Inc <TXN.N> also posted
quarterly profit and revenue that exceeded Wall Street's
estimates on better-than-expected chip demand, boosting its
shares 2 percent after the bell.
                                
 During regular trading, Caterpillar led the Dow
industrials, gaining 6 percent to $57.85 after Bank of
America-Merrill Lynch raised its price target to $65 from $52,
and increased its 2010 and 2011 earnings-per-share
expectations, citing a faster recovery in machinery revenue
next year. Caterpillar is set to report results on Tuesday.
                                
 Gannett Co Inc <GCI.N> jumped 8.2 percent to $14.06 after
the largest U.S. newspaper publisher posted lower quarterly
profit, but still beat expectations amid cost cutting.
[ID:nN19342465].
                                
 Diversified manufacturer Eaton Corp <ETN.N> rose 5.7
percent to $63.89 after it reported profit that beat estimates
and said it saw early signs of recovery in its markets.
[ID:nN19314996]
                                
 As of noon Monday, 62 companies in the S&P 500 had
reported earnings, with 79 percent above analysts'
expectations, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.
                                
 This week's earnings include 13 Dow components and 135
companies in the S&P 500.
                                
 In other news, the Market Vector Agribusiness ETF <MOO.P>
gained 3.1 percent, with U.S.-traded shares of Potash Corp of
Saskatchewan <POT.N> up 6.5 percent at $103.71 after a
research report speculated that miner BHP Billiton <BHP.AX>
<BHP.N> could afford offering a 30 percent premium to acquire
the Canadian fertilizer maker. [ID:nN19132987].
                                
 HOME BUILDERS OFF, VOLUME THIN
                                
 Home builders' shares slid, with the Dow Jones home
construction index <.DJUSHB> down 1.3 percent. KB Home <KBH.N>
dropped 2.3 percent to $15.46.
                                
 Frank Husic, managing partner and chief investment officer
of Husic Capital Management in San Francisco, said the home
building sector's shares were hurt by concerns the current
$8,000 tax credit to first-time home buyers, which expires on
Nov. 30, would not be extended. For related news see
[ID:nN19352218].
                                
 Volume was light on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday,
with 1.08 billion shares changing hands, sharply below last
year's estimated daily average of 1.49 billion. On the Nasdaq
about 2 billion shares traded, short of last year's daily
average of 2.28 billion.
                                
 Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by
a ratio of about 11 to 2, while on the Nasdaq, about nine
shares rose for every five that fell.
                                
 Monday's rally coincided with the 22nd anniversary of
Black Monday, as Oct. 19, 1987, is known, which was the day
the Dow industrials fell 22.6 percent -- still the largest
daily percentage drop on record.
 (Additional reporting by Ellis Mnyandu)