Stock Ended Up, Dow Rallies Almost 100 Points

U.S. stocks ended up on Thursday, with Dow rallying almost 100 points, buoyed by signals of an improving global economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 95.88 points, or 0.62%, to 15,509.21. The S&P 500 index added 5.69 points, or 0.33%, to 1,752.07. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 21.89 points, or 0.56%, to 3,928.96.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) on Thursday reported a fiscal first-quarter profit of $5.24 billion, or 62 cents a share, on revenue of $18.53 billion.

Amazon.com Inc posted better-than-expected sales on Thursday as the company expanded aggressively and made inroads into overseas markets. It posted revenue of $17.1 billion in the third quarter, up from $13.8 billion a year earlier. Net loss was $41 million in the third quarter, or $0.09 per diluted share, narrowing from a net loss of $274 million, or $0.60 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2012.

Zynga Inc’s revenue dropped 36 percent to $203 million in the third quarter. For the quarter ended Sept 30, the company posted a loss of $68,000 compared to a loss of $53 million for the same period last year.

Twitter Inc. TWTR 0.00% said it sees an initial public offering price of $17 to $20 a share, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Thursday.