LONDON (ShareCast) - After a mixed opening US stocks pressed ahead to end the day higher, with risers outnumbering fallers by about 2 to 1. Motor manufacturers, energy stocks and technology companies led the advance.

The Dow-Jones 30 rose 57 points to 12,240 and the S&P 500 put on 7 points to close at 1,339. The tech heavy NASDAQ Composite outperformed the other two indices, rising 15 points to 2,320.

The market got off to a bad start with financials leading the way down after Goldman Sachs put the boot into its rivals, saying that Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan face the largest shortfalls from declining values of loans used to finance buyouts.

Insurer American International Group, best known in the UK as the sponsor of Manchester United, lost around one-tenth of its value after auditors found a “material weakness'' in how the company values its credit-default swap portfolio.

Savings and loan company Washington Mutual retreated after Bank of America suggested that its share price was being supported by speculation of a bid that, in the eyes of Bank of America, only has a 25% probability of arriving.

However, Internet portal Yahoo! climbed higher when it formally rejected the bid from Microsoft. The board of Yahoo! believes Microsoft’s offer “substantially undervalues” the company, particularly bearing in mind its recent efforts to upgrade its advertising technology, its future prospects and its investment portfolio. According to an unnamed source quoted by the Wall Street Journal, the board of Yahoo! is looking for an offer of at least $40 a share before it will consider talking to Microsoft; Microsoft’s offer terms are currently around $10 of the $40 mark.

Elsewhere in the tech sector, mobile phone chip maker Motorola ploughed forward on speculation it will team up with Nortel Networks in a move that will see the companies merge their wireless-infrastructure businesses.

General Motors was wanted ahead of results tomorrow. Burnham Securities is high on the stock, saying the world’s largest car manufacturer may crank earnings per share up to $12.75 by 2010, thanks to increased output outside of the US and a cost-saving labour contract. The Ford Motor Company rose in sympathy.

Chevron celebrated its return to the Dow Jones 30 by climbing higher, in line with higher crude oil prices. The oil giant and Bank of America will be replacing tobacco company Altria and aircraft controls group Honeywell in the venerable index in the first change to the Dow’s constituents since 2004.

Investors had a healthy appetite for restaurant group Darden Restaurants’ shares after it advised that it expects third quarter earnings per share to be in the 83 to 85 cents range. The news has analysts scrambling to amend their earnings estimates which prior to the announcement were around the $0.77 mark.

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