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After a sluggish start, US stocks finish higher
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NEW YORK (AP) — Investors cheered moves by Google and credit-card companies on Wednesday and sent the stock market to a solid gain. Google helped set off a surge in technology stocks after it unveiled a low-cost wireless phone service.

Google's new wireless service, dubbed "Project Fi," costs around $20 a month for basic service and charges customers for the amount of data they use. The low-cost plan puts the Internet search giant into competition with AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Google's stock gained $6.25, or 1 percent, to $549.18.

For most of the day, the market looked like a driver given bad directions. Major indexes shuffled between slight gains and losses in morning trading before turning higher in the late afternoon. The gains were modest but shared widely: All 10 industries in the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose.

McDonald's said a strong dollar and restructuring charges weighed on its first-quarter results as a new CEO tries to turn the hamburger chain around. The company's sales continued to fall in the quarter, but its earnings beat Wall Street's estimates. McDonald's gained $2.97, or 3 percent, to $97.84.

Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank, called the market's response to McDonald's earnings typical of the earnings season so far.

"It was pretty lousy report, but investors remain optimistic about the future," Ablin said. "I think investors are willing to shrug off one bad quarter for earnings. We'll see what happens if we get a string of disappointments."

The S&P 500 index rose 10.67 points, or 0.5 percent, to 2,107.96. That's just 10 points shy of its record high reached on March 2.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 88.68 points, or 0.5 percent, to 18,038.27, and the Nasdaq composite picked up 21.07 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5,035.17.

Visa and MasterCard surged following news that China plans to allow foreign companies to handle bank-card transactions. Visa's stock jumped $2.66, or 4 percent, to $68.01, while MasterCard gained $3.43, also 4 percent, to $91.20.

Among the big companies turning in quarterly results, Boeing reported higher profit and revenue for the first quarter. But the aircraft maker's sales missed estimates, while costs climbed for its 787 Dreamliner. Boeing dropped $2.14, or 1 percent, to $151.19.

Chipotle said bad weather and a shortage of pork slowed its sales growth at the start of the year. As a result, revenue for the first quarter fell short of Wall Street's targets. Chipotle said the issue could last until the end of the year. Chipotle's stock sank $51.29, or 7 percent, to $641.23.

Major markets finished mixed in Europe. France's CAC 40 rose 0.4 percent, while Germany's DAX dropped 0.6 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.5 percent.

In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.1 percent to finish at 20,133, the first time since April 14, 2000 that the index closed above 20,000 points. South Korea's Kospi was little changed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.3 percent and China's Shanghai Composite jumped 2.4 percent.

Back in the U.S., government bond prices fell, driving the yield on the 10-year Treasury note up to 1.98 percent from 1.91 percent late Tuesday.

In commodities trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 45 cents to $56.16 a barrel in New York. Brent crude rose 65 cents to $62.73 barrel in London.

In other futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, wholesale gasoline rose 3.6 cents to $1.925 a gallon, heating oil rose 1.8 cents to $1.871 a gallon and natural gas rose 3.1 cents to $2.606 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Precious and industrial metals closed lower. Gold dropped $16.20 to end at $1,186.920 an ounce, while silver slid 21 cents to $15.80 an ounce. Copper dropped 4 cents to $2.67.

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Raging wildfires in South force evacuations in Tennessee
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Fires blaze on the hills above Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Tuesday morning. Bruce McCamish Photography | The Covington News

ATLANTA (AP) — Raging wildfires fueled by high winds forced the evacuation of thousands of people and damaged hundreds of buildings in a popular resort town on the border of the Smoky Mountains National Park as National Guard troops arrived early Tuesday to help overwhelmed firefighters.

Rain had begun to fall in some areas, but experts predicted it would not be enough to end the relentless drought that has spread across several Southern states and provided fuel for fires now burning for weeks in states including Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina.

The storms appeared to be taking aim at the nearly 28,000-acre Rough Ridge Fire in north Georgia and the nearly 25,000-acre Rock Mountain Fire that began in Georgia and then spread deep into North Carolina.

In Gatlinburg, Tennessee, officials said hundreds of homes and other buildings, including a 16-story hotel, were damaged or destroyed by flames. And preliminary surveys indicated that Westgate Resorts, with more than 100 buildings, and Ober Gatlinburg were both likely destroyed, according to a news release Tuesday morning.

Emergency officials ordered evacuations in downtown Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and in other areas of Sevier County near the Smoky Mountains while crews continue to battle the blaze, which also had crept to the edge of the Dollywood theme park. About 14,000 residents and visitors were evacuated from Gatlinburg alone, officials said.

No deaths have been reported, though several people were hospitalized with burns, emergency officials said in the news release.

Officials say there are about 1,200 people sheltering at the Gatlinburg Community Center and the Rocky Top Sports Park. Several other shelters have opened to house those forced from their homes. TV broadcasts showed residents streaming out of town just as rain started to wet roads.

Workers at an aquarium evacuated because of the wildfires were concerned about the thousands of animals housed there. Ryan DeSears, general manager of Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, told WBIR-TV the building was still standing and all workers had been evacuated late Monday. However, he said workers were anxious to return to check on the well-being of the 10,518 animals.

The rain forecast "puts the bull's-eye of the greatest amounts right at the bull's-eye of where we've been having our greatest activity," said Dave Martin, deputy director of operations for fire and aviation management with the southern region of the U.S. Forest Service.

The projected rainfall amounts "really lines up with where we need it," Martin said Monday. "We're all knocking on wood."

After weeks of punishing drought, any rain that falls should be soaked up quickly, forecasters said. It will provide some relief but won't end the drought — or the fire threat, they said.

Drought conditions will likely persist, authorities said. The problem is that rainfall amounts have been 10 to 15 inches below normal during the past three months in many parts of the South, authorities said.

"I think we racked up deficits that are going to be too much to overcome with just one storm system," said Mark Svoboda, director of the National Drought Mitigation Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.

"I would say it's way too early to say 'Yes, this drought is over,'" Svoboda said. "Does it put a dent in it? Yes, but we have a long ways to go."

The rain also brings danger because strong winds at the leading edge of the storms can topple trees and limbs that can kill and injure firefighters, he said.

In Mississippi, trees were reported downed Monday in nearly 20 counties across the state. Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph with gusts of more than 50 mph were reported and more than 2 inches of rain fell in some areas.

Power outages peaked at more than 23,000 statewide in Mississippi. Powerlines downed by winds sparked grass fires in four counties, said Greg Flynn, a spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

The storms moved across Alabama on Monday night and fell on Georgia during the overnight hours. High wind warnings were issued for mountainous areas in northern parts of Georgia.

In South Carolina, the stormy forecast was giving hope to firefighters battling a blaze in the northwest corner of the state. The South Carolina Forestry Commission hopes to contain the Pinnacle Mountain fire by the middle of next week.
More rain was expected Tuesday night and Wednesday morning in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
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Fuller reported from New Orleans. Associated Press writers Rebecca Yonker in Louisville, Kentucky; Jeff Amy in Jackson, Mississippi; Beth Campbell in Louisville, Kentucky; and Jack Jones in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.