NEW YORK - Stocks finished higher Thursday as investors set aside some concerns about downbeat economic reports and focused on strong profits from Oracle Corp.
Corporate results and economic news offered investors a mixed picture and kept stocks fluctuating for much of the session.
Oracle's results, released Wednesday, poked holes in Wall Street's recent pessimism, and even a report from Bear Stearns Companies of its first-ever quarterly loss seemed to offer relief to those fearing its results could have been worse.
Economic news appeared to weigh on investors at times, however. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve said at midday that its index of regional business conditions showed a reading of a negative 5.7, down sharply from a positive 8.2 in November.
The report came after the Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators, which looks three to six months ahead, dropped 0.4 percent in November. The reading suggests the economy could weaken in 2008 amid tight credit and continued troubles in the housing sector.
While investors ultimately seemed to look beyond the economic news, Sean Simko, head of fixed income management SEI Investments, said Wall Street's recent moves aren't showing much conviction given relatively light trading volumes.
"You still have the uncertainty of what's going to come out the next day and you have the year-end coming up, so the market's trading thin," he said.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 38.37, or 0.29 percent, to 13,245.64.
