Stock Market Today: Stocks Up Before Apple Earnings, Jobs Data

Stocks were choppy to start Thursday, but gained speed in afternoon trading. While there was plenty for market participants to consider – including a fresh round of corporate earnings reports – most eyes were looking ahead to tonight’s Apple (AAPL) earnings event and tomorrow’s monthly jobs report.

After Wednesday’s Fed-induced roller-coaster ride, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished Thursday up 0.9% at 38,225 and the S&P 500 gained 0.9% to 5,064. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed, surging 1.5% to 15,840, thanks to Qualcomm’s (QCOM) impressive earnings report.