S&P, Dow make more history

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks rallied Thursday, with the S&P 500 closing above 1,500 for the first time in more than six years and the Dow industrials ending at a record high for the sixth time in seven sessions.

The Dow (up 29.50 to 13,241.38, Charts) gained 0.2 percent, missing out on a broader advance due to the impact from General Motors, which reported a surprisingly weak earnings report in the morning.

But the broader S&P 500 (up 6.47 to 1,502.39, Charts) index - the market gauge most widely watched by professional investors - climbed 0.4 percent and ended above 1,500 for the first time since the third quarter of 2000.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite (up 7.62 to 2,565.46, Charts) rose 0.3 percent and closed at a 6-year high.

The Dow has now gained in 22 of the last 25 sessions for a gain of 7.6 percent. According to Dow Jones, that is the longest run of bullishness since the spring of 1944, when the indicator finished higher in 23 of 26 sessions.

Stocks rose as investors welcomed the day's batch of upbeat economic news and geared up for Friday's big monthly jobs report.

Treasury prices slipped on the session, boosting the corresponding yields. The dollar gained versus the yen and euro. Oil prices fell and gold prices rose.

After the close, Electronic Data Systems reported higher fiscal first-quarter earnings that topped estimates on higher revenue that missed forecasts. The computer services company also warned that fiscal second-quarter earnings would miss estimates, sending shares lower in extended-hours trading.

After Wednesday's rally - spurred by a $10.6 billion deal for Cablevision, upbeat earnings and a strong manufacturing report - stocks were choppy early Thursday despite upbeat reads on productivity and the services sector. But as the day wore on, the tone improved.

The "spillover effect from the recent merger news" and positive economic helped to spark the gains, said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson.

He said the stock market continued to be supported by the spate of mostly positive earnings reports, with the exception of GM this morning. The other factor: the psychological and technical boost from the S&P 500 topping 1,500.

When the S&P topped 1,500, that triggered some large program trades, Dickson said.

Gains were perhaps limited by anticipation about Friday's jobs report.

Employers are expected to have added 100,000 jobs to their payrolls in April, after having added 180,000 in the previous month.

The number could end up missing estimates, if its follows the trend of the weaker-than-expected report on private sector jobs released Wednesday.

The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, is expected to have risen to 4.5 percent from 4.4 percent last month. Average hourly earnings, the report's inflation component, are forecast to have risen 0.3 percent, matching March's rise.

Ahead of the monthly jobs report, investors welcomed a trio of positive economic reports Thursday.

First-quarter productivity grew a bigger-than-expected 1.7 percent, the government said Thursday morning. Unit labor costs, the report's inflation component, grew a much smaller-than-expected 0.6 percent.

Another report, the weekly jobless claims report, showed a surprise drop last week in the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment.

The ISM services sector index, released shortly after the open, rose to a stronger-than-expected 56 in the month, adding to bets that the economy is holding up despite being in a period of slower growth.

In corporate news, General Motors (down $1.75 to $30.69, Charts, Fortune 500) reported lower quarterly earnings that missed estimates, due partly to problems resulting from the subprime mortgage market fallout. GM shares lost 5.4 percent.

Dow gainers included Exxon Mobil (up $0.86 to $80.68, Charts, Fortune 500), Microsoft (up $0.36 to $30.97, Charts, Fortune 500) and Verizon Communications (up $1.47 to $41.07, Charts, Fortune 500).

Symantec (up $0.87 to $19.05, Charts) shares jumped 4.8 percent in active Nasdaq trade after the virus software maker posted a fiscal fourth-quarter profit Wednesday that fell from a year earlier, but beat forecasts.

On the downside, JDS Uniphase (down $2.31 to $14.33, Charts) slumped almost 14 percent after reporting lower fiscal third-quarter earnings that missed estimates late Wednesday. The maker of gear for optical networks also warned that current-quarter revenue would miss forecasts.

In other news, Intel (down $0.08 to $21.74, Charts, Fortune 500), meeting with analysts, said it plans to cut $2 billion in costs this year and that it expects profit growth to rise this year.

Chipmaking rival AMD (up $0.06 to $13.69, Charts, Fortune 500) was meeting with investors Thursday.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners topped losers 9 to 7 on volume of 1.59 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners by a narrow margin on volume of 2.18 billion shares.

Treasury prices slipped, lifting the yield on the 10-year note to about 4.67 percent from 4.64 percent late Wednesday as investors bet that the morning's strong economic news mean the Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut interest rates anytime soon. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar gained against the euro and the yen.

U.S. light crude oil for June delivery fell 49 cents to $63.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for June delivery rose $9.30 to settle at $684.40 an ounce.