Stocks Overcome Jitters, End Higher

Peters believes that headline number could have helped weigh on stocks, as well, since people have been increasingly concerned about food and energy lately. "I think people put too much weight on the core number," said Peters.

Meanwhile, RealtyTrac reported that March foreclosure filings surged 5% from the prior month, and 57% year over year, to 234,685, or one in every 538 U.S. households. Suffering the most on a proportional basis were Nevada, California and Florida. The latter two states, along with Ohio, had the worst foreclosure totals.

Returning to corporate news, Northwest (NWA Quote) and Delta (DAL Quote) finally reached a stock-swap merger deal which, if it closes, will create the world's biggest airline. Northwest holders will get 1.25 Delta shares per Northwest share, representing a 16.8% premium over Delta's Monday closing price.

Further, in a possible resolution to an issue that had threatened to stymie the discussions, the companies said that Delta's pilot leadership has agreed on a post-merger contract. After initial climbs at both stocks, however, Northwest lost 8.4% and Delta slid 12.6% as worries mounted that the deal won't satisfy regulators and unions. According to reports, two of Northwest's largest unions have already announced that they oppose the deal.

Meanwhile, speculation resurfaced that Continental Airlines (CAL Quote) and United parent UAL (UAUA Quote) could quickly whip up a merger agreement in order to form a big competing carrier. Shares were down 7% and 5.5%, erasing earlier gains.

Back in earnings, broker Charles Schwab said its bottom line swelled 12% in the first quarter, meeting expectations, even amid the tough economic environment of the past few months. Shares spiked 9%.

A number of regional banks also reported this morning, among them M&T, which advanced 6.3% after its first-quarter operating earnings grew by nearly 15% to a better-than-expected $202.2 million, or $1.82 a share. Regions Financial (RF Quote) saw a profit drop, but sailed past estimates. U.S. Bancorp (USB Quote) said earnings sank, though they still beat by a penny. Regions stock jumped 8.4%, and U.S. Bancorp shares added 1.7%.

State Street (STT Quote), however, plunged 9.9% even after coming in over targets as word surfaced that Fitch Ratings is mulling a downgrade after the value of its $75.4 billion investment portfolio slid by $3.16 billion.

Elsewhere in the financial space, Bear Stearns (BSC Quote) disclosed that earnings plummeted 79% in the fiscal first-quarter to $115 million, or 86 cents a share. That had come before March, when a rapid drain in liquidity left the investment bank teetering on the brink of collapse and JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote) took it out in a fire sale. Bear shares lost 1.3%.

Crocs (CROX Quote) plunged 43.2% to $10.11 after the plastic-shoe maker sharply took down its first-quarter earnings guidance. The company, which also plans on shutting its Canadian manufacturing operations, blamed a slowdown in consumer spending.

Oil prices were on a tear, hitting a new intraday high of $113.93 a barrel before stepping back to $113.79, a gain of $2.03. Also, according to AAA, national average gas prices at the pump have touched a new record of $3.386.Oil-and-gas stocks Exxon (XOM Quote), Chevron (CVX Quote), and ConocoPhillips (COP Quote) all finished up 1% or more.

Gold futures tacked on $3.30 to end at $932 an ounce, and the U.S. dollar was booking gains against both the euro and the yen.

Treasury prices were falling. The 10-year note was down 19/32 in price to yield 3.59%, and the 30-year bond tumbled 1-9/32 in price, yielding 4.43%.

Overseas markets were mostly rising. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.6%, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 0.4%. Among European exchanges, the FTSE 100 in London surged 1.3%, Germany's Xetra Dax lifted by 0.5%, and the Paris Cac was up 0.3%.