Rally Has Stocks on Two-Day Run

Optimism over the financial sector met pessimism over the housing sector, leaving Wall Street ambivalent Thursday--until the last hour of trading. As has been the norm most of this week, afternoon trading swings have come out of nowhere. Thursday followed that trend.

Traders wrestled with an earnings surprise from JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and more weak data from the real estate market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded up 95 points at 8125. The Nasdaq picked up 43 at 1670, and the S&P 500 rose 13 to 865.

JPMorgan earned $2.1 billion, or 40 cents a share, last quarter, down a bit from the year-ago period but well above analysts' estimates of 32 cents a share. The earnings surprise comes about a week after Wells Fargo said it expects to top estimates.

The labor market also looked a bit stronger Thursday morning after an unexpectedly big decline in weekly jobless claims.

Housing appeared in comparably worse shape. Foreclosures jumped 24% last quarter, according to data released today by RealtyTrac. Meanwhile, new residential construction showed weakness. The annual rates of housing starts and building permits each fell below economists' estimates last month.

Techs were a bright spot. Nokia (NOK) advanced after the firm issued bullish guidance, and Hewlett Packard (HPQ) picked up steam after unseating Dell (DELL) as the top PC seller. Rosetta Stone (RST) was the first initial public offering in over a year to open up above its offering price. Google (GOOG) announced quarterly earnings after the closing bell that beat Street estimates. 

On the Nymex, energy prices edged up. Crude traded up 74 cents at $49.99 a barrel.

World markets were mixed. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei finished up 0.1%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.6%. In Europe, the major indexes of London, Paris and Frankfurt each stood up more than 1.3% in afternoon trading.