Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Apple Hangs onto Gains as Fusion-io Drops on Earnings

Toward the end of trading Thursday, the Dow traded up 0.05 percent to 16,510.00 while the NASDAQ surged 0.59 percent to 4,151.30. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.24 percent to 1,879.17.

Technology shares gained around 0.83 percent in trading on Thursday. Top gainers in the sector included MicroStrategy

, Lam Research

, and VASCO Data Security International

. In trading on Thursday, telecommunications services shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.11 percent. Top decliners in the sector included Portugal Telecom SGPS SA

, off 3 percent, and Kongzhong

, down 2.7 percent.

General Motors Co

reported

first-quarter earnings. GM's quarterly profit slipped to $100 million, or $0.06 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $900 million, or $0.58 per share. Its revenue climbed to $37.4 billion versus $36.9 billion. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $0.03 per share on revenue of $37.44 billion.

Zimmer Holdings

shares shot up 11.67 percent to $102.17 after the company announced its

Biomet in a cash and stock transaction valued at around $13.35 billion. Shares of Apple

got a boost, shooting up 8.38 percent to $568.54 after the company reported

fiscal second-quarter results and announced a 7-for-1 stock split. The company also lifted its buyback plan to $90 billion from $60 billion. Apple's quarterly profit surged to $10.2 billion, or $11.62 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $9.5 billion, or $10.09 per share. Its revenue also climbed to $45.6 billion versus $43.6 billion. DR Horton

was also up, gaining 7.99 percent to $23.05 after the company beat analyst estimates in its second quarter report.

Shares of Quidel

were 10.43 percent to $21.42 after the company reported Q1 earnings of $0.08 per share on revenue of $46.70 million. Tsakos Energy Navigation

shares tumbled 12.33 percent to $7.31 after the company priced

of 11 million common shares at $7.30 per share. Fusion-io

was also down, falling 10.28 percent to $8.69 after the company disappointed in its third quarter report.

In commodity news,

to $101.93, while gold traded up 0.51 percent to $1,291.60. Silver traded up 1.20 percent Thursday to $19.69, while copper rose 1.70 percent to $3.08.

European shares

today. The Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.36 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index rose 0.66 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX surged 0.05 percent and the French CAC 40 gained 0.64 percent while U.K. shares climbed 0.42 percent.

US jobless claims rose 24,000 to 329,000 in the week ended April 19, versus a revised 305,000 in the earlier week. However, economists were projecting claims to reach 315,000 in the week. Orders for durable goods surged 2.6% in March, versus economists' expectations for a 2% gain. Supplies of natural gas increased 49 billion cubic feet for the week ended April 18, the US Energy Information Administration said. However, analysts were expecting a rise of 42 billion cubic feet to 46 billion cubic feet. Data on money supply will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.