Favorable Earnings Reports Give Stocks a Boost
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iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A batch of positive corporate earnings reports pushed the markets higher Thursday.
The Dow closed up 96 points at 15,509.21. The Nasdaq added 22 points to finish at 3,928.96. The S&P 500 completed the session up six points at 1,752.07.
This week is a busy one for corporate earnings, with about a third of the companies in the S&P 500 index reporting results.
Among the biggest to do so Thursday were Ford, Microsoft and Amazon, all beating earnings expectations.
The number of people filing for unemployment dropped last week by 12,000, although the less volatile four-week average jumped by almost as much.
Twitter has set its IPO price. The microblogging site Thursday proposed $17 to $20 a share when it goes public, likely next month. It hopes to sell at least 70,000 shares.
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