Stocks Overcome Early Jitters to Close Higher

Stocks rose on Thursday, despite a nervous start after Credit Suisse’s $5.2 billion write-down and some less than rosy earnings outlooks.

The Dow gained +82.80, the Nasdaq Composite +23.71 , and the S&P 500 +8.60.

Ford Motor
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surged nearly 12% after the company reported a surprising first-quarter profit.

Shares of Amazon.com
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fell more than 4% after the online retailer reported earnings that beat estimates by $0.02, but issued a gloomy outlook.

Apple
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gained nearly 4% after announcing better-than-expected results.

3M
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declined despite beating estimates and issuing guidance in-line.

Starbucks
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plunged more than 10% after reporting preliminary second-quarter results that fell short of expectations and lowered its full-year outlook.

And, Motorola
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fell 3% after the company issued a disappointing second-quarter outlook.

Market Snapshot

Dow

+82.80 12763.22

NASDAQ

+23.71 2405.21

S&P 500

+8.60 1379.93

Economic
News

Durable Orders (Mar): Actual -0.3%, Consensus 0.0%

Initial Claims (04/19): Actual 342K, Consensus 375K

New Home Sales (Mar): Actual 526K, Consensus 580K