US stocks rally after positive earnings
NEW YORK—US stocks rallied Thursday as positive earnings reports lured investors to shrug off mixed economic data.
Building on nearly three-year highs hit Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 72.35 points (0.57 percent) to finish the session at 12,763.31.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite edged up 2.65 points (0.09 percent) to 2,872.53, a fresh 10-year peak.
The S&P 500 index, a broad measure of the markets, rose 4.82 points (0.36 percent) to 1,360.48.
“Stocks ended Thursday in positive territory, despite the lackluster GDP report and weak jobless claims data,” said Michael Bratus at Moody’s Analytics.
The market shrugged off gross domestic product data from the Commerce Department showing a slowdown in growth in the first quarter to 1.8 percent from 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Government spending cuts and the impact of inflation on consumers weighed heavily on the data, which was in line with expectations.
The Labor Department reported new claims for unemployment insurance benefits surged more than expected last week to 429,000, the highest level since January.
“These data points should not materially affect investor earnings expectations in coming quarters but point to the fact that the economy is growing at a lot slower rate than normally seen during the end of the second year of an economic expansion,” said Frederic Dickson at DA Davidson & Co.
Investors had a batch of earnings to digest, including from two Dow components, ExxonMobil and Procter & Gamble.
ExxonMobil reported bumper quarterly profits of nearly $11 billion as the energy giant benefited from a politically sensitive surge in oil prices.
Net income hit $10.65 billion in the first quarter, a leap of 69 percent from the year-ago period, the company said.
Exxon shares fell 0.5 percent to $87.34.
Consumer products giant Procter & Gamble said net profit rose 11 percent in its third quarter as sales increased in all its regions around the world.
P&G shares rose 0.7 percent to $64.50.
The bond market firmed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 3.31 percent from 3.32 percent late Wednesday. The 30-year Treasury yield fell to 4.42 percent from 4.46 percent.
Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
