US STOCKS-Wall St up on positive earnings, outlooks

                                
 * Caterpillar rises after upgrade
                                
 * Boeing gives full-year outlook, range above estimates
                                
 * Apple rises ahead of results
                                
 * Dow up 0.8 pct, S&P up 1.3 pct, Nasdaq up 1.9 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news click [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates to late afternoon, changes byline)
                                
 By Chuck Mikolajczak
                                
 NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on
Wednesday as several corporate executives gave positive
outlooks that eased concerns about the global recession, while
better-than-expected results from AT&T Inc lifted technology
shares.
                                
 But falling oil prices pressured shares of big energy
companies, capping gains on the Dow industrials after
government data showed a larger-than expected increase in
domestic crude inventories last week. Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N>
was the index's top drag.
                                
 JPMorgan recommended that Caterpillar should make up a
larger part of investors' portfolios, and the shares rose 6.2
percent to $33.33, making it the top boost to the blue-chip
index. (For details, see [ID:nBNG366642])
                                
 AT&T <T.N> was up 4 percent to $26.29 after profit fell
less than expected, and an analyst said its iPhone partnership
with Apple Inc <AAPL.O> is starting to help rather than hurt
profits. [ID:nN22461975].
                                
 Apple, which reports results after the closing bell, was
among the top gainers on the Nasdaq, up 2 percent at $124.27.
                                
 "It appears the fourth quarter of last year and the first
quarter of this year is when the corporate officers dump all
their garbage and get everything they can out," said Carl
Birkelbach, chairman and chief executive of Birkelbach
Investment Securities in Chicago.
                                
 "The good news is that maybe this is the end of that."
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 62.60
points, or 0.79 percent, to 8,032.16. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index <.SPX> rose 11.21 points, or 1.32 percent, to 861.29. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> climbed 31.93 points, or 1.94
percent, to 1,675.78.
                                
 Gilead Sciences Inc <GILD.O> jumped 8 percent to $47.16 and
was the top boost on the Nasdaq after quarterly profit beat
estimates on increased sales of its drugs to treat the virus
that causes AIDS.
                                
 Semiconductor stocks also boosted the Nasdaq following
strong quarterly results from SanDisk Corp <SNDK.O>.
[ID:nN21451107]. The PHLX Semiconductor index <.SOXX> advanced
6.7 percent.
                                
 Boeing Co <BA.N> also helped lift the Dow after the big
U.S. aircraft maker and defense contractor lowered its
full-year outlook, but the range was still above Wall Street's
expectations, according to Reuters Estimates. Its shares rose 4
percent at $38.12. [ID:nN21472694].
                                
 But Morgan Stanley <MS.N> slid 5.6 percent to $23.25 after
it posted its second straight quarterly loss and slashed its
dividend.
                                
 Banks have been a key component in leading the six-week
rally that sent the broad S&P 500 up more than 26 percent from
March's bear market lows.
                                
 Exxon Mobil Corp <XOM.N> and Chevron Corp <CVX.N> weighed
on the Dow as U.S. oil futures prices <CLc1> dropped earlier in
the session. Exxon fell 1.5 percent to $65.25, and Chevron was
down 0.17 percent at $64.77.
 (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak;Editing by Jan Paschal)