NEW YORK - Strong earnings reports from big companies including Apple Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc. lifted stocks across the market Thursday.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at another 2011 high. The 30-company index rose 52.45 points, or 0.4 percent, to 12,505.99.
"There are a lot of concerns out there, but investors are looking at the bottom line right now, and that's earnings," said Yu-Dee Chang, the chief trader at ACE Investment Strategists, a money management firm in Virginia.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 7.02, or 0.5 percent, to 1,337.38. The S&P 500, a benchmark for most mutual funds, is now less than 6 points away from its highest close of 2011.
The gains were broad. All 10 company groups that make up the S&P index rose, led by a nearly 1 percent gain in technology companies.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 17.65 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,820.16.
Apple Inc. rose nearly 3 percent after reporting sales and income late Wednesday that came in way ahead of analysts' estimates.
Markets will be closed Friday for Good Friday.
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