Stocks Closed Higher, All Eyes On Apple's After Hours Earnings Report

U.S. stocks closed higher Thursday as investors digested the latest economic data and corporate earnings reports. Meanwhile, all eyes are on Apple (AAPL). The tech giant will release earnings after closing bell.

Economic data released today was positive. The Commerce Department reported that durable goods jumped 9.9% in September, and the Labor Department reported jobless claims fell 23,000 to 369,000 for the week ended Saturday.

Mid-day stocks dipped following a Dow Jones mention of rumors of a Fitch Ratings downgrade of the U.S. A Fitch spokesman declined to comment. Fitch still rates the U.S. as AAA with a negative outlook, though Fitch analysts previously said that may stay until late 2013.

Overseas, today's economic reports were positive. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said the nation's factory output should increase at a more rapid pace in Q4. In the U.K., a preliminary report showed that the country's economy in the third quarter grew 1% from the prior period.

Commodities staged a bit of rebound today following yesterday's sell-off. Gold for December delivery gained $11.40, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,713.00 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude for December delivery rose 32 cents, or 0.4%, to $86.05 a barrel.

Here's where the markets stood at end-of-day:

Dow Jones Industrial Average up 26.34 (+0.20%) to 13,103.68

S&P 500 up 4.22 (+0.30%) to 1,412.97

Nasdaq Composite Index up 4.42 (+0.15%) to 2,986.12

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Nikkei 225 Index up 1.13%

Hang Seng Index up 0.21%

Shanghai China Composite Index down 0.68%

FTSE 100 Index down 0.27%

UPSIDE MOVERS:

(+) PSSI, signs an agreement with McKesson (MCK) under which McKesson will acquire all outstanding shares of PSS World Medical for $29 per share in cash.

(+) ANGI, Reports that Q3 revenue was $42 mln, up from $24 mln a year ago. Loss for the quarter was $0.32 per share, vs. a year ago loss of $0.66 per share. For Q4, the company expects revenue of $45 to $46 mln, in line with the analyst consensus of $45.5 mln.

(+) TEN, Reported Q3 2012 revenue of $1.778 billion, compared with $1.773 billion in Q3 2011, but below the $1.807 billion Capital IQ analyst consensus estimate.

(+) OSTK, Reported that in Q3 it pulled in revenue of $255.4 million, an increase of 7% yoy. EPS was $0.11 vs a loss of $0.33 per share in the yoy quarter.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS:

(-) BBW, Posted a Q3 loss of $0.12 per share on revenues of $86 mln, missing analysts' estimates of $0.18 EPS on revenues of $97.17 mln, according to Capital IQ.

(-) SPR, Says it expects to take charges of approximately $590 million in its Q3 2012 financial results.

(-) PACR, Company reported Q3 2012 revenue of $348.9 million, and EPS of $0.03.