New Web Site Builder Helps Boost Intuit

Shares of Intuit Inc. rose as much as 31% after the top personal-finance software maker unveiled a service that lets small businesses create Web sites and link them to accounting data. Mountain View, Calif.-based Intuit surged $17.56 to close at $78.44 on Nasdaq, after touching $79.94 earlier in the day. The new service, called QuickBooks Site Builder, helps small businesses register a domain name, or Web site address, and design a basic site that the company’s customers, employees and suppliers can access. The service can be connected to the businesses’ accounting data to simplify the retrieval of product data, prices and other information. The service is free for the first six months and then costs $9.95 a month.