Big advance on Wall Street
Stocks surge as investors welcome falling oil and gold prices, a stronger dollar and strong earnings from Ford and others.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks rallied and bonds slumped Thursday as investors welcomed a stronger dollar, weaker oil prices and upbeat earnings from Ford Motor and Apple.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added around 0.7%. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index added 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) added 1%. All three major gauges had posted bigger gains in the early afternoon.
"The earnings so far have been better than what people were expecting, outside the financial sector," said Timothy Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management.
He said that this factor has helped keep stocks in a mostly upward trend over the last month or so, with Wall Street in the process of putting a bottom in place after all the selling.
Even so, stocks could be vulnerable in the near term. "We are at the upper end of the trading range and there are still issues out there that need to be dealt with," he said. "We are still going to see negative headlines on the economy and more from the financial sector."
After the close, Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) reported earnings that topped forecasts on sales that were roughly in line with estimates. The tech leader also issued better-than-expected full-year 2009 profit guidance. However, shares fell 5% after the close.
Also after the close, Amgen (AMGN, Fortune 500) reported quarterly earnings that beat estimates on quarterly sales that met estimates.
LM Ericsson (ERICY) and Goodyear Tire (GT, Fortune 500) are among the companies due to report results Friday morning. Friday also brings the revised reading on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan.
Thursday's market. After a volatile morning, stocks turned higher at midday Thursday. Early weakness had been caused by soft tech sector forecasts and sluggish readings on housing and manufactured goods.
The tech sector was leading the rally, said Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Canaccord Adams. He said that in addition to the day's earnings, market sentiment continues to improve, as it has been doing over the last month.
"Instead of looking for an excuse to sell it off, like they would have been doing a month or two ago, now people are looking for excuses to push it higher," he said.
Earnings. Investors sorted through a rash of quarterly results, including results from Apple, Dow component 3M and Ford Motor.
Late Wednesday, Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) reported quarterly sales and earnings that topped forecasts, but also issued current-quarter guidance that was short of expectations. Shares rose 3.7% Thursday.
Also late Wednesday, Amazon.com (AMZN, Fortune 500) reported earnings that topped forecasts, but issued a full-year profit outlook that was short of analysts' estimates. Shares fell over 4% Thursday, cutting bigger morning losses.
Qualcomm (QCOM, Fortune 500) reported higher quarterly profit and raised its current-quarter forecast late Wednesday. Shares rose 3% Thursday.
Chipmaker LSI Logic (LSI)'s late Wednesday quarterly report and outlook also impressed investors, sending shares 20.6% higher Thursday.
Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) reported a quarterly profit versus a loss a year earlier, surprising analysts who were looking for another quarterly loss. Shares jumped 11.7%.
Ford rival General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) added 5.6%.
Motorola (MOT, Fortune 500) reported a steeper quarterly loss versus a year earlier, missing analysts' forecasts, due to a big drop in its mobile phone unit. The company also forecast a bigger current-quarter loss than what analysts are expecting. Shares fell 2% Thursday.
3M (MMM, Fortune 500) reported weaker earnings and higher sales, both of which topped forecasts. Shares fell 1.9%.
Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) plunged 10.4% after the specialty coffee retailer warned that second-quarter results would be hurt by a weak U.S. economy and charges for its turnaround plan.
With 49% of the S&P 500 having reported results, earnings are on track to have fallen 14.1% from a year ago, according to the latest Thomson Financial forecasts.
In other corporate news, Triarc Companies, the owner of Arby's, is buying Wendy's (WEN) in an all-stock deal worth about $2.34 billion. Wendy's shares rose 4.2%.
Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers three to two on volume of 1.45 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners nine to five on volume of 2.35 billion shares.
Economic news. Durable goods orders fell for a third straight month in March, the Commerce Department reported, as manufacturers continued to struggle amid the economic slowdown.
New home sales in March fell to a 16-year low, the government said, and February sales were revised lower, in the latest reading on the hard-hit housing sector.
Another government report showed a surprise drop in the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment last week.
Commodity prices. U.S. light crude oil for June delivery fell $2.24 to settle at $116.06 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after hitting a record of nearly $120 a few days ago.
The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas hit an all-time record of $3.556, AAA reported.
COMEX gold for June delivery fell $19.60 to settle at $889.40 an ounce.
Other markets. The dollar rose versus the euro and yen.
Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.82% from 3.73% late Monday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. 
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