Nasdaq Leads Market Rally

Updated from 4:32 p.m. EDT

Stocks in New York were mixed for most of the session, but they turned higher late Thursday and closed positive as investors waded through another set of corporate earnings and economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 95.81 points, or 1.2%, to 8125.43, and the S&P 500 rose 13.24 points, or 1.6%, to 865.30. The Nasdaq added 43.64 points, or 2.7%, to 1670.44.

Technology stocks performed particularly well, with Hewlett-Packard(HPQ Quote) and Microsoft(MSFT Quote) rising 5% and 4.9%, respectively, on the Dow.

Investors had their eyes on Google(GOOG Quote) at the close. Google reported quarterly revenue of $4.1 billion after subtracting traffic acquisition costs, roughly in line with expectations, and topped profit estimates, earning $5.16 a share. Shares rose 2.4% during the regular session and nearly 5% after the report.

JP Morgan was the headliner of the day earlier after it also topped analysts' estimates.

Ever since Wells Fargo(WFC Quote) reported better-than-anticipated preliminary results, followed by Goldman Sachs'(GS Quote) estimate-topping first-quarter earnings, Wall Street has been digging for details and simultaneously expressing some skepticism.

More bank earnings are close at hand, with Citigroup(C Quote) set to report on Friday and Bank of America(BAC Quote) on Monday.

The banks had an uneven day. JP Morgan added 2.1%, and Citigroup(C Quote) rose 1%. Bank of America lost almost 1%, Wells Fargo fell 0.5%, and Goldman Sachs shares were flat.

In other earnings, Nokia(NOK Quote) said profits slumped a whopping 90% in the first quarter, but analysts had expected even worse. Shares climbed 11.4% to $14.88 as the mobile-phone maker indicated it's seeing signs of stability.