New York, NY (Marketsblog) – Wednesday posted modest gains on the S and P 500 as a slew of earnings reports continuted to pour in.
Strong large-cap tech firms pushed the NASDAQ composite index higher, although financials and energy stocks were on the downside.
Microsoft added 1.20 after it said that it would not add a penny to its offer for Yahoo. Steve Ballmer is beginning to get tough in his role as CEO after Bill Gates retired from the Redmond, Seattle-based software giant. On that news, Yahoo slumped a bit, lower b about half a percent as its executives are holding out for a sweetened bid from Microsoft.
Apple shares were also higher by 2.69 as traders acquired stocks ahead of the company report.
Overall, 113 firms reported earnings with Boeing up 3.35 , leading the blue chips, YUM Brands moving up 1.81 and Philip Morris International up 1.93.
On Thursday, 213 firms will report their earnings with Apple, Amazon.com and Qualcomm expected to report higher than expected results. Also in store for tomorrow are the durable goods report and data on initial jobless claims, reports Briefing.com