Dow Gains For Third Straight Session

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks finished with respectable gains on Thursday as data showing progress in the housing market offset a handful of high-profile earnings misses and another disappointing read on weekly initial jobless claims.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 114 points, or 0.9%, to close at 13,205. The S&P 500 gained 9 points, or 0.7%, to settle at 1400. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 have now risen in three straight sessions.

The Nasdaq , which jumped more than 2% on Wednesday, added 21 points, or 0.7%, to finish at 3051.

Breadth within the Dow was positive with 24 of the index's 30 components finishing the day higher, led by Wal-Mart (WMT), Chevron (CVX), AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ).

Exxon (XOM), Microsoft (MSFT), duPont (DD) and Home Depot (HD) were the weakest performers among the blue chips.

In the broad market, winners narrowly outpaced losers by a 2-to-1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange and 1.5-to-1 on the Nasdaq. The VIX, which measures market volatility through options activity in the S&P 500, was more than 3% lower at 16.24, backing away from the 20- level that is indicative of heightening market fear.

Stocks finished higher Wednesday with the Nasdaq outperforming the broad market, soaring 2.3%, because of a massive post-earnings rally in Apple (AAPL). Also, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke once again left the door for more quantitative easing slightly ajar during a press conference following a rather rote policy meeting that showed some evidence of growing hawkishness within the central bank.

Adding the positive sentiment on Thursday, the National Association of Realtors said its index of pending home sales increased 4.1% in March to 101.4, the highest level since April 2010 and better than expected. In addition, the index was revised to an increase of 0.4% in February from a previous reading of a 0.5% dip.

Warm weather and low interest rates helped boost the number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes, with the index showing a spike of 8.7% in the West and a 5.9% gain in the South. Economists on average expected levels to increase by 1%.

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