US stocks finished higher on Thursday as as investors shrugged of a series of mixed earnings reports as well as disappointing economic news.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 72.35 points, or 0.57%, to finish at 12,763.31. The S&P 500 added 4.82 points, or 0.36%, to close at 1,360.48. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.65 points, or 0.09%, to 2,872.3.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that real gross domestic product rose at a 1.8% annualized rate in the first quarter, down from a 3.1% increase in the fourth quarter.
A release by Department of Labor on Thursday showed that number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits rose 25,000 to 429,000 in the week ending April 23. Economists expected jobless claims to drop to 395,000. The four-week average of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims, a less volatile gauge, increased 9,250 to 408,500. Continuing claims for the week ending April 16 fell 68,000 to 3.64 million.
Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) said Thursday that its first-quarter profit jumped 69% to $10.65 billion, or $2.14 a share, from $6.3 billion, or $1.33 a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue climbed to $114 billion from $90.3 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of $2.04 a share on revenue of $112.6 billion. Shares of Exxon-Mobil fell 44 cents, or 0.50%, to close at $87.34.
Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) said Thursday that its third-quarter profit climbed to $2.87 billion, or 96 cents a share, from $2.59 billion, or 83 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.The company said its core earnings rose 8% to 96 cents a share. Revenue grew 5% to $20.23 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report earnings of 97 cents a share on revenue of $20.24 billion. Shares of the consumer products giant rose 48 cents, or 0.75%, to $64.50.
Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) reported Thursday that its first-quarter loss narrowed to $439 million, or 15 cents a share, from $865 million, or 29 cents, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue climbed to $8.31 billion from $8.09 billion. Analysts, on average, expected the company to report a loss of 22 cents a share on revenue of $8.2 billion. Shares of Sprint Nextel soared 32 cents, or 6.68%, to $5.11.
Shares of Citigroup (NYSE: C) rallied 6 cents, or 1.77%, to close at $4.59.
European stocks closed up. The UK FTSE rose 1.74 points, or 0.03% to 6,069.60. The German DAX and French CAC increased 0.95% and 0.91% respectively.
Asian stocks finished mixed. The Nikkei 225 rose 157.90 points, or 1.63%, to 9,849.74. The Hang Seng index of Hong Kong declined 87.21 points, or 0.36%, to 23,805.63.
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