Strong earnings boosted the markets to a higher open with the Dow climbing 82 points to 13,083 while Nasdaq leaped 63 points to 3024.
On the upside
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) impressed with first quarter earnings that nearly doubled to surpass analysts expectations on strong iPhone sales.
Sprint (NYSE: S) widened first quarter losses but the results were better than expected.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may phase-in cuts to reimbursement rates for long-term care hospitals lifting shares of Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND).
On the downside
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) reported sharply higher first quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates but the Chinese search engine current quarter revenue that fell short of expectations.
First quarter recurring profit fell for Itau Unibanco (NYSE: ITUB) to miss analyst expectations as defaults continued rising.
Hess (NYSE: HES) disappointed with sharply lower first quarter earnings as production costs climbed.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 4 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks soared 12 points to 810.
