Stocks gain on earnings; Cummins, Ameriprise rise

4/29/2014

NEW YORK — The stock market is closing higher as more U.S. companies deliver solid quarterly results.

Merck, Ameriprise Financial, and the diesel engine maker Cummins were among the corporations reporting better-than-expected earnings.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose eight points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 1,878 today. Banks and technology stocks rose the most.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 86 points, or 0.5 percent, to 16,535. The Nasdaq composite increased 29 points, or 0.7 percent, to 4,103.

Some companies posted results that disappointed investors. Coach slumped 9 percent after the luxury goods maker said its profit fell in the first three months of the year.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.69 percent.