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8A Daily News – Friday, July 20, 2012 NEW YORK (AP) — Strong earnings from IBM and other technology com- panies nudged the stock market higher Thursday, but a trio of weak econom- ic reports kept the gains in check. IBM surged 4 percent after it posted a jump in profits late Wednesday even as revenue fell. It marked the 38th consecu- tive quarter that IBM's net income rose over the pre- vious year. IBM leapt $7.09 to $195.34. US stocks creep up; IBM, other tech stocks rise Wall Street trial average rose 34.66 points to close at 12,943.36 on Thursday, the third straight day of gains. ''One thing is dominat- ing today and it's tech earnings,'' said Lawrence Creatura, portfolio manag- er at the mutual fund man- ager Federated Investors. ''Earnings have been bet- ter than a lot of people The Dow Jones indus- expected. That could still change, but so far, so good.'' Analysts forecast that earnings at S&P 500 com- panies shrank 1.5 percent in the April-through-June period versus a year ago, according to researchers at S&P Capital IQ. If that turns out to be true, it will be the worst earnings sea- son since the summer quarter of 2009. In other trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 3.73 points to 1,376.51. The Nasdaq composite index rose 23.30 points to 2,965.90. Despite the modest gains, utilities and con- sumer staples lagged behind the market, usually a sign that investors were willing to take on risk. eBay jumped 9 percent after the company reported that its second-quarter net income doubled, thanks to higher revenue from its PayPal online payments business and its e-com- merce websites. eBay rose $3.73 to $44.19. The market wavered in early trading, flipping from gains to losses and back again, after a mea- sure of manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region came in much weaker than economists had expected. Two other economic reports also released at 10 a.m., homes sales and leading economic indica- tors, were also weak. Big banks and financial firms were mostly lower, following poor earnings reports from American Express and Morgan Stan- ley. American Express lost 4 percent, the largest drop in the Dow, after its earn- ings missed Wall Street's expectations. Slower growth in Europe weighed on the credit-card compa- ny's results as international revenue fell 4 percent. Amex lost $2.06 to $56.23. The Dow is now up 1.3 percent for the week, and the S&P 500 index 1.5 percent.