Stocks follow through on advance

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks moved modestly higher Thursday, as investors embraced positive earnings from companies such as Nokia and Starbucks, a day after the Dow industrials soared 150 points.

The Dow Jones industrial index (up 28.70 to 13,391.07, Charts) gained 0.3 percent at the start of the session.

The broader S&P 500 (up 3.86 to 1,469.67, Charts) gained 0.4 percent, while the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite index (up 8.87 to 2,562.74, Charts) climbed 0.5 percent.

Upbeat earnings from companies such as Nokia and Starbucks helped lifted stocks at the start of the session.

Nokia (up $2.22 to $30.63, Charts) posted higher sales and profits Thursday sending shares of the Finnish cell phone maker nearly 8 percent higher on the New York Stocks Exchange.

After the closing bell Wednesday, Starbucks (down $0.09 to $27.11, Charts, Fortune 500) posted higher profit and sales and affirmed its full-year earnings outlook.

Walt Disney (up $0.07 to $33.90, Charts, Fortune 500) also reported a rise in quarterly profit late Wednesday, lifted by strength in its TV and theme park businesses.

Rival media firm Viacom (up $0.35 to $38.35, Charts) posted higher revenues and a narrower-than expected quarterly loss Thursday, helped by DVD sales and box office revenue of "Shrek The Third."

Investors may be soothed by the latest sign of corporate profit strength, but trading is likely to remain turbulent as investors continue to worry about the spread of problems in the subprime mortgage sector.

Mortgage lender Accredited Home Lenders Holding (down $2.01 to $6.20, Charts) said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange commission it was not certain it would continue to operate due to the adverse conditions in the subprime mortgage market. Shares of the company tumbled 20 percent in morning trade on the Nasdaq.

Stocks fluctuated through most of Wednesday's session before rallying late in the day to end the day sharply higher.

On the economic front, weekly jobless claims edged higher last week, the government reported before the opening bell, but came in lower than expected.

Investors will also get a reading on June factory orders at 10 a.m. ET.

The advance on Wall Street offered some support to global stock markets. Asian stocks tiptoed higher and European markets rose in midday trading.

Oil prices retreated after finishing at a record high during the previous session. U.S. light crude for September delivery fell 9 cents to $76.44 a barrel.

Treasury prices eased, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.8 percent from 4.79 percent late Wednesday.