Stocks Climbed for Third Straight Day

U.S. stocks climbed for a third session on Wednesday after an upbeat industrial production report and Yahoo posted better-than-expected earnings, bolstering the technology sector. At close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 162.29 points, or 1.00%, to 16,424.85. The S&P 500 was up 19.33 points, or 1.05%, at 1,862.31. The Nasdaq Composite added 52.06 points, or 1.29%, to 4,086.23.

Industrial production grew more than forecast in March, and February’s data was revised higher to show the biggest monthly advance since May 2010, according to data released by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. Industrial production grew 0.7% and February’s gain was revised to 1.2% from an initially reported 0.7%.

Yahoo earned $312 million, or 29 cents per share, during the first three months of this year. That compares with $390 million, or 35 cents per share, at the same time last year.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday the U.S. economy appeared to be slowly moving toward full employment, but that it would need help from the central bank for some time to come.

Google Inc’s Internet business revenue grew 19 percent in the first quarter, as its expanding volume of online ads offset declining prices. Google’s core Internet business revenue was $15.42 billion in the first quarter, versus $12.95 billion in the year-ago period.

International Business Machines Corp.reported first-quarter earnings of $2.38 billion, or $2.29 a share, compared with $3.03 billion, or $2.70 a share in the year ago period. Excluding one-time items, IBM would have reported earnings of $2.54 a share. Revenue declined to $22.48 billion from $23.41 billion in the year-ago period.