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Earnings, jobless claims spur Wall St. gains


    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks jumped on Thursday as solid corporate profit reports and a drop in the number of Americans on jobless benefits gave investors reasons to buy equities following the S&P 500's two days of losses.

    The Dow Jones industrial average was up 83.74 points, or 0.92 percent, to end unofficially at 9,154.46. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 11.60 points, or 1.19 percent, to finish unofficially at 986.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 16.54 points, or 0.84 percent, to close unofficially at 1,984.30.

    (Reporting by Edward Krudy; Editing by Jan Paschal)