US stocks muscle higher on mixed earnings

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 9, 2013. US stocks rose Thursday amid a mixed bag of earnings reports, as investors punished underperforming companies while bidding the overall market higher. AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW

NEW YORK CITY—US stocks rose Thursday amid a mixed bag of earnings reports, as investors punished underperforming companies while bidding the overall market higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 95.88 points (0.62 percent) to 15,509.21.

The broad-based S&P 500 tacked on 5.69 (0.33 percent) at 1,752.07, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index increased 21.89 (0.56 percent) to 3,928.96.

Peter Cardillo, director of investment research at Rockwell Global Capital, said the market is “feeding on itself” amid recent momentum and confidence the Federal Reserve will maintain an aggressive stimulus policy.

“We’re in a market that has a momentum, going up fast, it’s going to have to pause someday,” Cardillo said. “But right now, it’s all about easy money, cheap money, as long as the Fed doesn’t taper.”

Of the 213 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 141 have exceeded expectations and 43 have missed, with the remainder in line with forecasts, according to a report by S&P Capital IQ.

Ford rose 1.4 percent after earnings of 45 cents per share bested expectations by 8 cents, helped by shrinking losses in Europe and record sales in the Asia Pacific Africa division.

Other companies to exceed expectations included Dow component 3M (up 0.2 percent) and homebuilder PulteGroup (up 7.0 percent).

Dow Chemical slid 1.0 percent after earnings per share came in 5 cents short of forecasts of 54 cents, and revenues also disappointed. The company said it plans $3-4 billion in divestitures.

Copy-machine manufacturer Xerox fell 10.4 percent after forecasting fourth-quarter earnings of 28-30 cents per share, below current analyst projections of 33 cents.

Cameron International, an oil services company, plummeted 14.3 percent after missing earnings expectations and forecasting a weaker performance in the upcoming quarter. Cameron expects to earn 95 cents-$1.00 per share, below the $1.12 forecast by analysts.

Digital security company Symantec fell 12.7 percent after forecasting earnings for the upcoming quarter at 41-43 cents per share, well below the 51 cents seen by analysts. The company said it was committed to achieving its 2015-2017 financial targets.

Technology giant Apple advanced 1.3 percent after activist investor Carl Icahn disclosed he raised his stake in Apple and amplified his call for a $150 billion share buyback.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose to 2.52 percent from 2.49 percent Wednesday, while the 30-year increased to 3.61 percent from 3.58 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.