Stocks slightly higher amid latest earnings

NEW YORK — Stocks moved slightly higher in early trading Thursday as the latest earnings reports helped the market extend its recent gains.

The day’s earnings news was generally positive. Ford Motor Co. surprised the market with a second-quarter profit of $2.3 billion due mainly to a huge gain for debt reduction, while drugmaker Wyeth, cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc. and candy maker Hershey Co. all raised their profit forecasts for the year.

A report from UPS Inc., however, was less upbeat. The world’s largest shipping carrier said its second-quarter profit plunged 49 percent as sales tumbled. The company also issued thrid-quarter guidance below analysts’ forecast.

Investors were able to look past a government report showing a bigger-than-expected rise in new jobless claims. The Labor Department said the number of new claims for unemployment benefits rose by 30,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 554,000 — above analysts’ estimate of 550,000. However, a Labor Department analyst said the report was distorted by the timing of auto plant shutdowns.

Also, total unemployment benefit rolls fell to the lowest level since mid-April.

After a month of wayward trading, stocks restarted the market’s spring rally early last week after companies like Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Intel Corp. got earnings season off to a good start with solid reports.

Though investors have been hesitant to make big moves the past two days amid a more mixed batch of earnings, analysts are still encouraged by the market’s recent progress, in which major indexes have risen more than 8 percent since July 10.

“We’re at a cycle high in the stock market here because investors are starting to realize that the recession is ending and that the economy is improving,” said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors. “Things are getting much better and the market is pricing it in.”

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 35.74, or 0.4 percent, to 8,917. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 4.44, or 0.5 percent, to 958.51, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.88, or 0.4 percent, to 1,933.26.